Pakistan’s government closed its airspace in the early hours today in response to the escalating military conflict with India. The initial 48-hour closure had already been anticipated by multiple scheduled airlines, which have been avoiding the country’s airspace, as well as some parts of northwestern India, since the Indian Air Force started bombing what it said were terrorist bases in Pakistan and parts of Kashmir.
As India’s Operation Sindoor was getting underway on Tuesday evening, the government banned all Pakistan-registered aircraft from its airspace. Last week, Pakistan’s government closed its airspace to Indian-registered aircraft, saying that it had “credible information” about imminent military action. On Wednesday, it claimed that 57 international flights had been operating in the country’s airspace when the Indian air strikes began.
On April 30, Dyami Security Intelligence issued a warning urging aircraft operators not to fly over Pakistan and to avoid all travel to the Jammu and Kashmir areas. At that point, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority had already issued a notam closing parts of the Lahore and Karachi flight information regions.
Several airports in Pakistan have been closed since the military offensive began on Tuesday. These include Islamabad (OPIS), Lahore (OPLA), Sialkot (OPST), Gilgit (OPGT), and Skardu (OPSD).
Meanwhile, the Osprey Flight Solutions security team warned that the armed conflict is set to continue, including the use of unguided rockets and artillery fire, guided missile launches, and air strikes. After Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets, the company said that further shootdowns should be expected on both sides, including the use of surface-to-air missiles.
According to Osprey, none of the leading civil aviation regulators has yet issued specific conflict zone notices for all flight levels over Pakistan. In January, EASA amended its conflict zone notice, limiting warnings to two areas close to the border with Afghanistan, but not covering the focal points of the current military engagement. Germany and France have conflict zone notices covering the whole of Pakistan’s airspace, but only up to FL260.
This conflict has been triggered by an attack on April 22 in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed. According to India, the attack was committed by militants backed by Pakistan in what is a disputed area.