India shuts airspace; 6 weekly flights of Pakistan airlines to be impacted

Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian carriers after New Delhi blamed it for Pahalgam terror attack

Six weekly flights of Pakistan airlines will be impacted after India shuts its airspace for Pakistan flights from Thursday.

 

Pakistan International Airlines's (PIA) Islamabad-Kuala Lumpur and Lahore-Kuala Lumpur services will be affected due to the Indian airspace ban, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

 

PIA currently operates four flights per week on the Islamabad-Kuala Lumpur route and two flights per week on the Lahore-Kuala Lumpur route, the data showed.

 

Aviation industry sources said that PIA's Kuala Lumpur flights have been avoiding the Indian airspace since the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. They are using the airspace in China, Laos and Thailand to reach Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

 

 

According to Cirium, PIA flies about 308 international flights per week and more than 80 per cent of them are to the cities in West Asia. These flights to West Asia do not use the Indian airspace.

 

In a notice to airmen issued on Wednesday night, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) stated that the Indian airspace is "not available" for aircraft registered in Pakistan, aircraft owned or leased by Pakistan's airlines or operators, and Pakistan's military aircraft from Thursday onwards.

 

Pakistan had on April 24 announced the closure of its airspace to Indian carriers, two days after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killed 26 people, most of them tourists.

 

Indian carriers' international operations have also been impacted due to Pakistan's airspace ban. IndiGo announced on April 25 that it will temporarily suspend flights to Almaty and Tashkent due to limitations in aircraft range following the closure of Pakistan’s airspace. The airline added that approximately 50 of its international routes will now involve longer flight paths, which could lead to minor schedule changes.

 

The longer routes due to Pakistan's airspace ban is especially challenging for narrow-body aircraft as they have a smaller fuel tank as compared to wide-body aircraft. IndiGo uses Airbus narrow-body jets for its services to Almaty and Tashkent.

 

According to Cirium, Air India now operates around 1,188 international flights per week, a 56.7 per cent increase from April 2019. Its India-Europe flights, many of which have been using Pakistan's airspace, have surged by about 80 per cent to 242 services per week. Similarly, its India-North America flights, many of which have been using Pakistan's airspace, have more than doubled to 144 per week.

 

 

Air India's low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, now operates about 954 international flights per week, a 65.1 per cent rise since April 2019.

 

IndiGo operates 1,904 international flights per week, nearly 2.5 times the number it ran in April 2019. In February, IndiGo announced the acquisition of four B787-9 wide-body aircraft on damp lease from Norse Atlantic Airways, with plans to launch India-Europe flights in the middle of the current summer season.