Pakistan on Wednesday decided not to lift its airspace ban for Indian flights till May 30, as Islamabad is awaiting the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls in India.
Pakistan fully closed its airspace after an Indian Air Forcestrike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in Balakot on February 26. However,Pakistan opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok andKuala Lumpur on March 27.
“The top officials of defence and aviation ministriesheld a meeting on Wednesday to reconsider opening its airspace for Indianflights. They decided that Pakistan’s airspace will remain banned for theIndian flights till May 30,” a senior government official told PTI after themeeting.
He said the Civil Aviation Authority has also notified thedecision to the airmen. The authority issued a notification (Notam) after themeeting with pilots, advising them of circumstances relating to the state offlying.
The official said the government will now consider liftingof the ban on Pakistan’s airspace for Indian flights on May 30.
Pakistan’s Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhryearly this week said that the status quo will remain till the conclusion ofelections in India.
“Status quo will remain till the elections are over inIndia. I don’t see any improvement in relations between Pakistan and India tillthe elections are over and a new government is installed. The ban on airspaceby each other I think will also continue till Indian polls,” Chaudhry toldPTI.
Owing to the flight ban on its airspace by India, Pakistanhas suspended its operation for Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur which is causing a lossof millions of rupees per day. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) used tooperate four flights to Kuala Lumpur, two to Bangkok and two to New Delhi.
A senior PIA official told PTI that the national flagcarrier’s loss is running into billions of rupees because of suspension of theflights especially to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. “We are not only facing the huge financialloss but also losing our passengers to other airlines,” he said, addingthat this matter should now be resolved. “If land and rail routes areoperational between Pakistan and India, what’s wrong with the air route,”the official questioned.