KARACHI: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has clarified that the country’s airspace is fully operational and entirely accessible for all civil aviation traffic, encompassing all commercial flights.
This clarification directly refutes recent media and social media claims of a “partial closure,” which officials have labelled as factually incorrect and misleading.
The clarification follows a previously issued Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) concerning specific air routes within the Karachi and Lahore regions.
The notice indicated that these particular routes would be unavailable daily from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, between March 3 and March 31.
The NOTAM detailed that “selected ATS (air traffic service) route segments” within the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) Flight Information Regions (FIRs) would be temporarily closed during those hours for operational reasons.
Addressing the situation, the authority stated, “Pakistan’s airspace 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 PAA emphasised that no restrictions have been placed on commercial operations, including arrivals, departures, or overflights across the country.
“Our air traffic controllers and airport teams are fully operational and managing traffic normally,” the statement added.
The authority urged media outlets and social media users to depend on official statements from the PAA and to avoid disseminating sensational or inaccurate reports that could cause unwarranted alarm among passengers and the general public.
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In a related development, flight operations to Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) saw disruptions on Monday, with only one commercial flight arriving from the Middle East.
According to the airport information desk, Etihad Airways flight EY300 from Abu Dhabi landed at 7:30 pm.
However, all scheduled flights from Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Muscat were cancelled, with no departures reported from those origins.
A spokesperson for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed that, unlike some other regional routes, the airline’s flights to and from Saudi Arabia are currently operating according to their published schedules.
