Flights partially resumed at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport and Faisalabad International Airport on Sunday after being suspended for over 80 hours amid soaring tensions with India.
A Notice to Airmen (Notam) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Sunday said that flight operations to and from Lahore airport have resumed along the existing routes. The notice added that the flight operations from Lahore are expected to resume completely by March 8, 11:59pm (GMT).
Later in the day, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) also partially reopened the Faisalabad International Airport. As per the latest Notam A0217/19, the CAA notified that “in addition to existing Notam(S) A0210/19 and A0215/19 regarding availability of airspace, flight operations (domestic/international) from Faisalabad International Airport are being resumed with restricted entry/exit.”
Pakistan had closed its airspace following tensions with India escalated on February 27 as Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian aircraft over violation of the airspace. Later on March 1, the CAA had allowed flight operations from Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and Islamabad airports.
As per the previous directives, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Multan airports were scheduled to resume operations from March 04, 01:00 pm.
The airspace closure had disrupted major routes between Europe and South Asia, with mounting frustration from passengers stranded at international airports.
Thai Airways cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. The decision affected services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo.
Published in Daily Times, March 4th 2019.
