Specific air routes in Karachi, Lahore regions to remain closed for flights till March 31: PAA

RAWALPINDI: Due to the ongoing regional security situation, Pakistan has decided to temporarily close specific air routes in Karachi and Lahore regions.

The move comes amid the Iran-Israel-US conflict that has badly disrupted flight operations across the Middle East, with numerous airlines halting their services.

According to a notice to airmen (Notam) issued by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), these routes will remain unavailable for commercial operations from March 3 to March 31 between 9am and 3 pm daily.

The Notam said “selected ATS (air traffic service) routes segments” in the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) flight information regions (FIRs) would remain unavailable during the above-mentioned period due to “operational reasons”.

An official said that during this period, alternative air routes will be used to ensure that international and domestic flights continue to operate.

According to aviation experts, precautionary measures have been taken due to the current regional situation. They added that the temporary closure of specific routes was for security reasons and the relevant authorities were monitoring the situation.

On the other hand, no commercial flight was operated between the Middle East and Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) on Monday, except for an Etihad Airways flight that landed there.

According to the airport information counter, Etihad Airways flight EY300 from Abu Dhabi arrived at IIAP at 7:30pm. However, all flights from Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat were cancelled as no flights departed these countries.

Currently, PIA flights to and from Saudi Arabia remain operational, a spokesman for PIA said.