Flights partially resume at Lahore airport

Published March 3, 2019
The partially functional status will remain intact till March 8.— Wikimedia commons/File
The partially functional status will remain intact till March 8.— Wikimedia commons/File

Flights partially resumed at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport early on Sunday morning after being suspended for over 80 hours amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan.

Over the past four days "more than 400 flights and 25,000 passengers" were affected due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, after the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) knocked down two intruding Indian warplanes. DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had announced that the airspace had been closed due to the prevailing "[security] environment".

Indian news outlets had reported that airports in the Indian-occupied Kashmir were also closed to commercial flights. The Press Trust of India news agency had said that these airports were located at Srinagar, Jammu and Leh.

Although flights had partially resumed at other major international airports in Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta on March 1, Lahore airport had remained closed.

A Notice to Airmen (Notam) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) today said that flight operations to and from Lahore airport, had resumed along existing routes.

The notice said that flight operations at Lahore are expected to resume completely by March 8, 11:59pm (GMT). Flight operations at the other major international airports have returned to normalcy.

Pakistan International Airlines spokesperson, Mashood Tajwar, said yesterday that normal flight operations at other major airports in Punjab, including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Sialkot, are expected to resume by tomorrow.

Opinion

Editorial

At breaking point
Updated 20 Jan, 2025

At breaking point

The country’s jails serve as monuments to bureaucratic paralysis rather than justice.
Lower growth
20 Jan, 2025

Lower growth

THE IMF has slightly marked down its previous growth forecast for Pakistan’s economy from 3.2pc to 3pc for the...
Nutrition challenge
20 Jan, 2025

Nutrition challenge

WHEN a country’s children go hungry, its future withers. In Pakistan, where over 40pc of children under five are...
Kurram conundrum
Updated 19 Jan, 2025

Kurram conundrum

If terrorists and sectarian groups — regardless of their confessional affiliations — had been neutralised earlier, we would not be at this juncture today.
EV policy
19 Jan, 2025

EV policy

IT is pleasantly surprising that the authorities are moving with such purpose to potentially revolutionise...
Varsity woes
19 Jan, 2025

Varsity woes

GIVEN that most bureaucrats in our country are not really known for contributions to pedagogical excellence, it ...