By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan Friday fully reopened its airspace for commercial flights after a week-long closure, aviation authorities announced.
The airspace was completely closed to local and international flights following dogfights last week between the Pakistani and Indian air forces in which both sides claimed to have shot down each other's aircraft.
However, the airspace was partially reopened and flight operations at major airports was restored after a couple of days. But until today’s announcement, the northern airspace had remained closed.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the country's airspace has been fully reopened and flight operations at all airports have now been restored.
The 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.