Pakistan Lifts Ban On All Civilian Flights After Closing Eastern Airspace For Nearly Five Months Post Balakot Strike

Pakistan has opened its airspace for all civilian traffic on Tuesday (16 July), effectively removing the ban on Indian flights that were not able to use the majority of their airspace after the Balakot airstrikes back in February, the Business Times reports.

“Pakistan has permitted all airlines to fly through its airspace from around 12.41 am today. Indian airline operators will start using normal routes through Pakistan airspace soon,” sources told PTI.

The Civil Aviation Authority in Pakistan issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) stating that “with immediate effect, Pakistan airspace is open for all type of civil traffic on published ATS (air traffic service) routes.”

The Pakistani airspace was completely closed on 26 February after the Indian Air Force (IAF) had struck Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) terror training base in Balakot in retaliation to the Pulwama attack on 14 February. Of the 11 routes passing through the neighbouring country, only two routes passing via the southern route were open.

Air India is expected to get a major relief after suffering a loss of Rs 491 crore due to re-routing of international flights. According to data presented by Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri Singh, private airlines SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir lost Rs 30.73 crore, Rs 25.1 crore and Rs 2.1 crore due to the closure of Pakistani air space.