RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Tuesday that the country’s airspace remained “fully open, safe, and completely available for all civil aviation traffic”.

The clarification came after the authority issued a notice to airmen (Notam) regarding specific air routes in Karachi and Lahore regions, saying they would remain unavailable from March 3 to March 31 between 9am and 3 pm daily.

The Notam said “selected ATS (air traffic service) routes segments” in the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) flight information regions (FIRs) would remain unavailable during the above-mentioned period due to “operational reasons”.

In a subsequent statement, the PAA said that the Notam was a “routine operational advisory”.

“It announces the temporary unavailability of specific ATS route segments within the Karachi and Lahore FIRs during daily windows (0900-1500 PKT) from March 3 to 31. These segments are closed from ground level to unlimited altitude due to standard operational reasons,” the statement said.

“Pakistan’s airspace as a whole remains fully open, safe, and completely available for all civil aviation traffic, including commercial flights. Air traffic services continue without hindrance, and alternative routing options are available and routinely used for all affected flows,” the authority said.

“No restrictions have been imposed on commercial operations, arrivals, departures, or overflights across Pakistan. Our air traffic controllers and airport teams are fully operational and managing traffic normally,” it added.

On the other hand, no commercial flight was operated between the Middle East and Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) on Monday, except for an Etihad Airways flight that landed there.

According to the airport information counter, Etihad Airways flight EY300 from Abu Dhabi arrived at IIAP at 7:30pm. However, all flights from Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat were cancelled as no flights departed these countries.

Currently, PIA flights to and from Saudi Arabia remain operational, a spokesman for PIA said.