Pakistan – (Staff Reporter/Web Desk) -The Pakistan airspace closure for Indian flights has been extended once again, this time until October 24. The Pakistan Airports Authority confirmed the extension through a fresh Notice to Airmen, commonly known as a Notam, issued to guide pilots and airlines on restricted routes.
This is not a new decision. It is simply the latest chapter in a ban that has now lasted well over a year. According to the new Notam, the restriction covers every Indian-registered aircraft. It also applies to any plane operated or leased by Indian airlines, and this includes military flights as well.
What makes this update notable is the number attached to it. Officials say this is the 17th time the ban has been extended since it first came into effect. That is a long run for what many initially expected to be a short-term measure.
The story behind the closure goes back to April 2025. Pakistan shut its airspace to Indian aircraft on April 23 that year. The move came soon after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, a decision New Delhi linked to the deadly attack in Pahalgam, located in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
India blamed Pakistan for that attack. Islamabad rejected the accusation outright and instead called for a neutral, transparent investigation into what actually happened. That disagreement set the tone for everything that followed.
Days later, on April 30, India responded in kind. It closed its own airspace to Pakistani airlines, mirroring the ban Pakistan had already put in place. From that point on, both countries effectively locked each other out of their skies.
Tensions did not stop there. In early May, India carried out strikes on several Pakistani cities on May 6 and 7. Pakistan answered with Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, a large retaliatory campaign aimed at multiple Indian military sites.
During those tense days, Pakistan reported shooting down eight Indian fighter jets. Three of them were Rafale aircraft, along with several drones destroyed in the process. The standoff stretched on for nearly 87 hours before a ceasefire was finally reached.
That ceasefire, brokered with US involvement, came into effect on May 10, 2025. It calmed the immediate crisis, but the airspace restrictions themselves were never lifted. Instead, they have simply been renewed, month after month, right up to this latest extension.
The economic side of this story tells its own tale. Indian airlines have felt the pinch far more than Pakistani carriers. Longer routes, higher fuel costs, and rescheduled flight paths have added real financial pressure on India’s aviation sector.
Pakistan’s airlines, by comparison, have managed the situation with far less disruption. This pattern is not new either. Similar imbalances were seen during the 1999 Kargil conflict and again after the 2019 Pulwama incident, both times leaving Indian carriers with the heavier burden.
For now, there is no clear sign of when the airspace will reopen. With the 17th Notam now in place, the closure looks set to continue shaping regional air travel well into the final months of 2026.
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