The Pakistani airspace has been closed due to rising tensions with its neighbor, India. The two countries have been in conflict for quite some time. This came to a head two days ago when India launched an attack against Jaish-e-Mohammed in the disputed Kashmir region. The operation led to Pakistan claiming to have shot down two Indian Air Force jets. The politics of this situation are more involved than these two events so I will not elaborate. It is worth noting that commercial travel was immediately affected by the airspace closure.
International flights that transit between Indian and Pakistani airspace now being affected. Some flights returning to origin, while others appear to be seeking alternate routing. https://t.co/sXbkX0qrGI pic.twitter.com/tojnJCii4w
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 27, 2019
Some airplanes were forced to return to their origin…
…while others were diverted.
Final Word
It is unfortunate that the situation between India and Pakistan has escalated to this level. I cannot speculate on the length of the airspace closure, but can hope it is not like the Qatar blockade imposed last year. As always, check with your airline for any travel updates.
Good to know Rob. We fly from Istanbul to Singapore in 2 weeks. Pakistan probably not in that flight path, but we will see.