Islamabad airport to operate as usual on March 16 as PAA cancels Notam

The Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) on Sunday said its earlier notice to airmen (Notam) about a two-hour suspension of flight operations at Islamabad airport on March 16 was cancelled.

“The earlier Notam regarding temporary airspace restrictions in the Lahore flight information region (FIR) and suspension of flight operations at Islamabad International Airport on 16 March (08:30am - 10:30am PKT) has been cancelled,” the PAA said on X.

“Normal operations will continue,” it clarified.

In its now-cancelled Notam, the PAA had specified segments of air traffic service (ATS) routes within the Lahore FIR that would not be available from ground to flight level 210 due to “operational reasons”.

The Notam had 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”.

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”.

The clarification had come after the PAA issued a Notam saying that selected ATS route segments in the Karachi and Lahore FIRs would remain unavailable between 9am and 3 pm daily from March 3 to March 31 due to “operational reasons”.

The PAA later termed the Notam a “routine operational advisory”.