The Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) has announced that the country’s airspace will remain closed to all Indian civil and military aircraft until March 23, according to a notice to airmen (Notam) issued today.
Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs), Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR), and the new Notam applies to both, according to a 2022 document from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).
The restrictions follow escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors after an April 2025 attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives. India, without providing evidence, accused Pakistan of supporting the assault, which Islamabad firmly denied, offering a neutral investigation instead. The dispute soon escalated into the most intense military confrontation between the two countries in decades, during which Pakistan claims to have shot down seven Indian jets.
The closure has also had economic repercussions, with Indian carriers unable to use Pakistani airspace. Reports in November indicated that Air India was lobbying the Indian government to seek access to Chinese-controlled airspace over Xinjiang to shorten flight routes and mitigate losses.