The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), on Thursday, once again announced a suspension of flight operations for an additional 24 hours at some airports across Pakistan. It was said that flight operations would remain suspended at airports in Rahim Yar Khan, Sialkot, Skardu, Gilgit and Sukkur and Pakistan’s airspace would be completely reopened on March 8 at 1 pm. The aviation authority further asserted that operations at airports where flight operations had already resumed would continue as per normal till 5 am on March 15. Flight operations were said to run as per schedule at Chitral, Multan, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore and Islamabad airports till 5 am on March 15. It was only last week that Pakistan’s aviation authority had partially resumed operations for some international and domestic flights. Previously, thousands of passengers were left stranded worldwide when Islamabad shut down its air space in the wake of escalating tensions with India.
Published in Daily Times, March 8th 2019.
