Just a few moments ago, Pakistan decided to close their airspace to Indian carriers, in a repeat of its 2019 stance. This means that Indian airlines or India-registered aircraft will no longer be able to use Pakistani airspace to conduct flights in and out of Europe and the Middle East.

Pakistan Airspace Closure

The NOTAM of the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority website is published below.

This is how the Pakistani Airspace looked at about 5 PM IST (the Red boundaries are not country boundaries but rather airspace boundaries managed by various Air Traffic Control towers).

The date or validity of this airspace closure is unknown for now. However, enough to know that flights between Indian airports (largely Delhi) and Europe and the Americas or back operated by Air India will be significantly impacted when the airline has to fly longer to skirt the Pakistani airspace. A similar impact will be noticed for the operations of all Indian carriers from Delhi into the Middle East. And last but not least, IndiGo’s operations to the Stans might also be affected due to this.

Here is Air India’s Advisory on this subject

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

Due to the announced restriction of Pakistan airspace for all Indian airlines, it is expected that some Air India flights to or from North America, UK, Europe, and Middle East will take an alternative extended route. Air India regrets the inconvenience caused…

— Air India (@airindia) April 24, 2025

Air India has had to divert a London – Delhi flight (AI162) to Abu Dhabi, and a Toronto – Delhi flight (AI190) which was flying over Russia, to Copenhagen.

Here is IndiGo’s advisory on the subject

#6ETravelAdvisory: In view of the ongoing situation and Pakistan air space closure, a few international flight schedules may be impacted. We’re working to minimise the inconvenience. Check your flight status https://t.co/ll3K8PwtRV and rebooking options https://t.co/51Q3oUe0lP pic.twitter.com/mdnVObO0ON

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) April 24, 2025

IndiGo has had to cancel some of their flights operating to Central Asia, namely, Almaty and Tashkent on April 24, 2025, which is today. The airline also had to divert their flight 6E 1428 operating between Sharjah and Amritsar to Ahmedabad to pick up fuel.

Bottomline

Pakistani Airspace has been shut to Indian-owned airlines and Indian-registered aircraft with immediate effect. This will affect Air India’s operations to the west of India and those of IndiGo and Air India to the Middle East (amongst other airlines such as SpiceJet). The last time, it took 5 months for the airspace to be reopened. This time, we don’t know.

What do you make of this closure of Pakistani Airspace for Indian carriers? 

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