Pakistan extends airspace ban along its eastern border with India till June 28

Pakistan had fully shut its airspace in February after an Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot. The country opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority Thursday extended its airspace ban along its eastern border with India for the third time till June 28, reported PTI. The development comes a day after India decided that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will not fly over Pakistani airspace.

Earlier, Pakistan had allowed former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to fly directly through Pakistani airspace to participate in the meeting of SCO foreign ministers in Bishkek on May 21. However, the airspace for other commercial airliners remained closed.

Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot. Since then, it has only opened two routes. The country opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.

A Pakistan government official told PTI that since there has been no official communication between the two countries regarding the opening of their airspace for each other the “status quo” will prevail.

Due to the ban, some foreign carriers using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan.

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