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KARACHI: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has extended the airspace restrictions on Indian aircraft till March 23.
The airspace will remain closed for all Indian civil and military registered aircraft till March 23, the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) said in a new notice to airmen (Notam).
Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs) — Karachi and Lahore, according to a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) document from 2022. The Notam applies to both the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) FIRs.
The ban on Indian registered aircraft was imposed due to ongoing tension between the two countries. India and Pakistan have closed their airspace to each other’s airlines since tensions between them escalated in late April last year in the wake of a shooting in India-held Kashmir that killed 26 people. Initially Pakistan had closed its airspace on April 24, 2025 and later the ban was extended multiple times.
New Delhi, without evidence, had alleged that Islamabad backed the attack. Pakistan strongly denied any involvement and offered a neutral probe. Then, in early May, the nuclear-armed nations fought their fiercest military conflict in decades. Pakistan says it downed seven Indian jets during the conflict.
Amid a financial toll from a ban on Indian carriers flying over Pakistan, it was reported in November that Air India was lobbying the Indian government to convince China to let it use a sensitive military airspace zone in Xinjiang to shorten routes.
Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2026
