Flight operations at Islamabad airport to remain suspended for 2 hours on March 16: PAA

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Saturday that flight operations at Islamabad International Airport would remain suspended for two hours on March 16.

In a statement on X, the authority said, “Due to operational reasons, flight operations at Islamabad International Airport will remain temporarily suspended on 16 March 2026 from 08:30am to 10:30am PKT.”

It advised passengers to check with their airlines for any updates.

In a notice to airmen (Notam), the PAA specified segments of air traffic service (ATS) routes within the Lahore flight information region (FIR) that would not be available from ground to flight level 210 due to “operational reasons”.

The Notam stated that arrival and departure operations at Islamabad International Airport would remain closed, and urged arriving aircraft to “bring sufficient holding fuel to cater for delay”.

Today’s notice comes after a Notam with the same specifications was issued on March 12, restricting flights in the same route segments for three hours and 15 minutes that day.

The reason for that Notam was attributed by the media to a flypast rehearsal for Pakistan Day celebrations on March 23.

Earlier this month, days after the Iran war began, the PAA said that Pakistan’s airspace remained “fully open, safe, and completely available for all civil aviation traffic”.