Pakistan extends closure of its airspace

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan on Saturday extended closure of its airspace for all transit flights till March 11, local media reported.

A state-run Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has delayed the Pakistan's airspace opening for transit flights till March 11, as the authority had earlier announced to open the airspace from Saturday, Geo News, a local broadcaster, reported the CAA notification.

The East and West bound flights will have to use alternative routes to operate from and to Europe, North America, however some transit flights between the north and south will be allowed to fly over on some routes of the country's airspace.

The authority has also extended the closure of domestic airports -- including that in Sialkot, Rahim Yar Khan and Sukkur -- till March 11.

The airspace was completely closed for local and international flights following an air combat between Pakistani and Indian air forces in which both sides claimed to have shot downed each other's aircraft last week.

However, it was partially reopened and flight operations at major airports were restored after a couple of days. But, the East-West route remained closed.

The airspace closure left thousands of passengers stranded at several airports across the world apart from forcing airlines to reschedule their flights.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals escalated after a suicide attack last month on an army convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed at least 40 Indian troops. India accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, a charge Islamabad denies.