Pakistan Extends Airspace Ban Along Eastern Border With India Till June 28

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New Delhi: Pakistan on Thursday extended the airspace ban along its eastern border with India for the third time till June 28, according to a notice issued by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The CAA notice says: “Pakistani airspace will be closed until June 28 along its eastern border with India. The Panjgoor airspace will remain open for overflying transit flights from the western side as Air India had already been using that airspace.”

Pak had fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot following the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir.

On May 15, Pakistan first extended the airspace ban till May 30. Then on May 30, it extended the ban till June 15. Now it has prolonged the airspace ban till June 28.

A Pakistan government official told PTI that since there has been no official communication between the two countries regarding the opening of their airspace for each other the “status quo” will prevail.

On Wednesday, Pakistan gave special permission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s VVIP flight to use its airspace for his official trip to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

However, Prime Minister Modi’s VVIP aircraft avoided flying over Pakistan.  Since the latest round of Indo-Pak tensions, Pakistan has only opened two air routes- both of them pass through southern Pakistan, of the total 11.

As a result of the ban, foreign carriers using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan. Flights from Europe and the US flying in and out of New Delhi have been the worst hit.

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