Pakistan has extended its ban on Indian airlines and India-registered aircraft from using its airspace for a further month, with the restrictions now in place for almost a year.
The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has issued a fresh Notice to Airmen (Notam), stating that the country’s airspace will remain closed to Indian-registered aircraft until April 24.
Pakistan has kept its airspace shut to Indian flights since April 23, 2025, a move that has resulted in losses amounting to billions of rupees for Indian airlines.
Pakistan closed its airspace for Indian airlines in a tit-for-tat move after New Delhi suspended the critical Indus Water Treaty amid heightened bilateral tensions following the deadly Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Following Pakistan’s decision, India also shut its airspace to Pakistani airlines on April 30.
On May 6-7, 2025, India launched unprovoked attacks on multiple Pakistani cities.
In response, Pakistan’s armed forces launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, “Operation Bunyanum Marsoos”, and targeted several Indian military targets across multiple regions.
Pakistan downed seven Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.
While India’s aviation industry has faced heavy losses, the impact on Pakistani aviation has been minimal.
This is not the first time Pakistan has imposed such restrictions. Airspace closures were previously enacted during the 1999 Kargil conflict and the 2019 Pulwama crisis, both instances in which India faced greater aviation disruptions than Pakistan.
