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Pakistan extends airspace ban on Indian carriers till April 24
India and Pakistan have been engaged in reciprocal airspace closure since April 2025. Foreign airlines, however, can traverse the airspace of both countries
- PUBLISHED: Wed 18 Mar 2026, 6:26 PM
Pakistan airspace will remain closed to Indian-registered aircraft and those operated, owned, or leased by Indian airlines/operators, including military flights, until the early hours of April 24, Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said in a post on ‘X’ on Wednesday.
The country closed its airspace to all Indian carriers on April 24, 2025, nearly a year ago, in response to Indian missile strikes during Operation Sindhoor. On May 7, 2025, Pakistan opted for the international closure of its airspace. But a day later, it reopened the airspace for non-Indian air carriers.
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India and Pakistan have been engaged in reciprocal airspace closure since April 2025. While foreign airlines can traverse the airspace of both countries, they are off-limits to each other’s airlines and aircraft.
Both countries have been issuing separate ‘notices to airmen’ every month, informing aircraft about the closure of airspace in the two countries. But this has affected Indian carriers more than Pakistani ones, as many Indian aircraft, especially those taking off from New Delhi and other north Indian airports, are forced to go for expensive diversions to avoid Pakistani airspace.
The outbreak of war in Iran has further hit Indian carriers, which have had to take longer routes over Africa and increase flying time to Europe by up to two hours in many cases.
Flights from India to the US are also taking a lot of time for Indian carriers. Taking an Air India flight from New Delhi to New York sees the aircraft make a stopover in Europe, and the entire journey can take about 22 hours. In contrast, the American Airlines flight, which goes over Pakistan, takes about 16 hours.
Air India recently estimated an annual loss of $600 million (about Dh2.2 billion) because of the airspace ban over Pakistan.
An Air India official told an international gathering in Mumbai recently that a significant portion of the carrier’s capacity has been captured by other airlines of late.
The number of passengers flying Bengaluru-London has increased substantially for international airlines operating directly, but Air India, which has to take massive diversions, has not seen any rise in passengers.
