Pakistan renews airspace closure for Indian flights till July 24

• Restrictions apply to all aircraft, including military planes: PAA.
• Says ban on Indian flights took effect at 5:50pm on June 16.
• Airports authority says ban to remain in place till 4:59am on July 24.
  

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended airspace restrictions on all India-owned or India-operated aircraft until 4:59am on July 24, according to a Notice to Airmen (Notam) issued by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Wednesday.

The restrictions apply to all Indian-registered aircraft, including commercial and military planes, the Notam showed.

Aircraft leased by Indian airlines will also remain barred from using Pakistani airspace during the period.

The extended ban on Indian flights using the airspace took effect at 5:50pm on June 16 and will remain in force until July 24, according to the Notam.

Pakistan closed its airspace for Indian airlines in April last year in a tit-for-tat move after New Delhi suspended the critical Indus Water Treaty amid heightened bilateral tensions following the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which New Delhi blames on Islamabad. Pakistan has rejected the allegations and also called for a transparent inquiry.

Following Pakistan’s decision, India also shut its airspace to Pakistani airlines on April 30, last year.

After the Pahalgam attack, India, on May 6-7, 2025, launched unprovoked attacks on multiple Pakistani cities. In response, Pakistan’s armed forces launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, “Operation Bunyanum Marsoos”, and targeted several Indian military targets across multiple regions.

Pakistan downed eight Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.

While India’s aviation industry has faced heavy losses, the impact on Pakistani aviation has been minimal.

This is not the first time Pakistan has imposed such restrictions. Airspace closures were previously enacted during the 1999 Kargil conflict and the 2019 Pulwama crisis, both instances in which India faced greater aviation disruptions than Pakistan.