Islamabad: Pakistan wants its airspace, shut for commercial aviation amid India-Pakistan tensions, to open fully at the earliest, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday.
“The airspace has been closed for national and passenger security… We want the airspace to open at the earliest,” the Minister was quoted as saying by Geo News.
His comments came as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that Pakistan had temporarily restored its airspace for commercial aviation. The country’s airspace was closed on Wednesday amid escalating tensions with India.
The CAA said that all flight operations across the country had been suspended till 5 a.m. on Friday.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said flight operations will resume temporarily on a priority basis for flights to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Several airlines, including Emirates, Air Canada and Qatar Airways, had earlier suspended flights to Pakistan. Etihad, Flydubai, Gulf Air, SriLankan Airlines and Air Canada also suspended services to the country. Singapore Airlines, British Airways and others were forced to reroute flights.
Hundreds of international and domestic flights to and from Pakistan have been cancelled, stranding thousands of passengers. Thousands of travellers were stranded in Bangkok on Thursday when Thai Airways cancelled all flights over Pakistan. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines Wednesday announced they were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. (Agencies)
