The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Wednesday extended restrictions on Indian aircraft using Pakistan’s airspace until January 23, 2026, prolonging a ban imposed amid heightened tensions between the two neighbours.
The decision was notified a week before the previous restriction was due to expire on December 24.
Under the extension, Pakistan’s airspace will remain closed to all Indian-registered aircraft, including planes owned, operated, or leased by Indian airlines, as well as Indian military flights.
According to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), the restriction applies to both of Pakistan’s flight information regions, Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR), and will remain in force for the specified duration and timings.
Pakistan and India shut their airspaces to each other’s airlines after relations deteriorated in late April following an attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
India accused Pakistan of involvement without providing evidence, an allegation Islamabad strongly denied while offering a neutral investigation.
The situation escalated further in early May, when the nuclear-armed neighbours engaged in their most serious military confrontation in decades.
Pakistan later claimed it had shot down seven Indian fighter jets during the conflict.
The continued airspace ban has imposed high financial costs on Indian carriers.
In November, reports said Air India was lobbying the Indian government to seek access to restricted Chinese airspace over Xinjiang to shorten flight routes and reduce losses caused by the closure.
