Responding to current tensions after India's Operation Sindoor, Pakistan on Wednesday announced a 48-hour closure of its airspace for all air traffic. Shortly after the military strike by India, Pakistani aviation authorities closed the airspace over Islamabad and Lahore and diverted flights to Karachi. Later, the entire airspace was closed for 48 hours as a precautionary measure.
However, aviation authorities reopened the airspace after an eight-hour closure. International and domestic flights resumed this morning, with the majority of them departing from the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi or Lahore.
However, airspace in Lahore was closed again for 24 hours after a brief resumption. Because of the airspace closure, a heavy rush was witnessed at the Jinnah Airport in Karachi as delayed international and domestic flights took off or landed there.
A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority said that flights from West Asian countries and other destinations are now fully operational as per schedule. He stated that domestic flights had also become operational until further notice.
The spokesperson said an Uzbekistan Airlines flight from Tashkent had reached New Delhi via Lahore. The Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor. It was launched in retaliation for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26 people.
(With inputs from PTI)