Indo-Pak tension: Flights flying over Pakistan return or divert route to avoid Pakistani airspace

After increases possibility of engagements between Indian and Pakistani air forces, commercial airlines are avoiding the zone

The Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said airports in Jammu, Srinagar and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir and Shimla, Kangra, and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh were closed for commercial operations and most of the flights to and from these airports are cancelled. A NOTAM is issued for a stipulated period for closure of airspace and can be revised anytime.

Though the notification cited ‘technical reason’ for the closure of the airspace, multiple sources confirmed the instruction has come from the Indian Air Force (IAF).

National carrier Air India, which uses Pakistan airspace for westbound flights, had issued a direction to use alternative routes. Some international flights that use Indian and Pakistan airspace for transit had also started avoiding the route.

The move came after Pakistani aircraft violated Indian air space in the Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Wednesday morning as Indian Air Force scrambled jets and pushed them back. News agency ANI reported that a Pakistan Air Force F-16 was shot down in Indian retaliatory fire in Nowshera’s Lam valley.

Officials said some of the flights towards Jammu, Leh and Srinagar airports were diverted to their origin stations.

Several airlines issued statements about the cancelling of operations.

According to the status of flights shown on live flight tracking website Flightradar24, several flights scheduled to fly over Indo-Pak border have either returned or diverted to avoid Pakistani airspace. The flight no CZ6037 of South China Airlines, on its way from Guangzhou in China to Lahore in Pakistan, seems to have landed in Delhi.

A similar situation has been observed on the Pakistan side too. As many as four flights of Qatar Airlines – Doha-Bangkok, Doha-Hong Kong, Doha-Kathmandu and Doha-Dhaka flights – have returned from Pakistan’s western border. Similarly, Etihad’s Abu Dhabi-Kathmandu flight has also returned.

Some of these flights seem to have taken a detour instead of returning to origin airport. They have returned from Pakistan-Iran border, moved southwards and flying over the Arabian Sea, avoiding the Pakistan air space. They may directly go to the original destination or may stop at India for re-fuelling due to increased flight distance.

Shariah Varanasi flight of Air India Express has taken a similar extended route over the Arabian Sea. Interestingly, one Jeddah-Peshawar flight of Saudia has returned from inside the Pakistan airspace. A lot of Pakistan bound flights seem to have returned or cancelled, as we can hardly see any flights coming into the country as per Flightradar24, although we can see flights going out of Pakistan.

These means that Airlines are apprehensive of flying to or over Pakistan, as they anticipate an escalation of tension between India and Pakistan. Indian Air Force Planes bombed terror camps inside Pakistan, and after that, there are reports of a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet shot down by India. Therefore, the airspace over India-Pakistan has become extremely dangerous, and it is natural that civilian airlines, both passenger and cargo, have decided not to fly over that zone.