Airspace Hostilities Return: Pakistan Closes Skies to Indian Aircraft in Sharp Retaliation Over Indus Waters Row
In a sharp escalation of hostilities between the two neighbours, Pakistan late Thursday evening closed its airspace to Indian-owned and operated commercial aircraft with immediate effect. The move is seen as a direct countermeasure to India&rsquo;s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty earlier this week&mdash;a key water-sharing accord between the two nuclear-armed nations.
The decision, confirmed via a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, effectively bars Indian civil and military aircraft from using Pakistani air corridors until midnight on 25 May 2025. The ban encompasses aircraft operated by Indian airlines regardless of flag registration, including those operating on wet or dry lease.
For Indian aviation, the fallout is immediate and severe. An average of 70 to 100 Indian flights transit Pakistani airspace daily, primarily connecting North Indian cities such as Delhi, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad to Europe, North America, the UK, and parts of West and Central Asia. The sudden closure has upended route planning and forced Indian carriers into extensive rerouting via southern and western corridors, notably over the Arabian Sea and Gulf region&mdash;routes that are longer and far less fuel-efficient.
Early Friday morning, Air India and IndiGo issued travel advisories alerting passengers to possible delays and route changes. While domestic operations remain unaffected, long-haul international services to destinations such as London, Frankfurt, New York, Toronto, and Dubai are now being recalibrated to account for extended flight times, higher fuel burn, and inevitable slot management challenges at foreign airports.
<img src="Indigo Pakistan airspace.html" alt="">
The economic implications are far from trivial. Extended detours can add anywhere between 60 to 120 minutes of additional air time per sector, translating to operational losses estimated in crores of rupees daily. Drawing from precedent, when Pakistan closed its skies in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack in 2019, Indian carriers collectively bled over ₹540 crore in under five months. At the time, Air India alone reported a staggering ₹491 crore loss, largely due to extended transatlantic and European flight routes.
While neither side has formally indicated any intention to de-escalate, the strategic nature of this move underscores the breadth of tools both governments are prepared to deploy in their increasingly volatile standoff. The closure follows a series of retaliatory actions that began after the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir&mdash;India&rsquo;s deadliest in six years. In swift succession, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, downgraded diplomatic ties, revoked visas for Pakistani nationals (barring Sikh pilgrims), and shuttered the Wagah border crossing.
Pakistan&rsquo;s tit-for-tat response has followed the same script. Along with the airspace ban, Islamabad has expelled Indian diplomats, halted visa issuance for Indian citizens, and recalled its envoy from New Delhi. The National Security Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by senior military figures including Army Chief General Asim Munir, reportedly endorsed the latest measures.
What began as a diplomatic tangle now threatens to morph into a prolonged standoff with economic and strategic ramifications well beyond civil aviation. As airlines scramble for alternatives and passengers brace for pricier fares and longer travel times, the region&rsquo;s already fragile geopolitical airspace has grown noticeably tighter&mdash;both figuratively and literally.
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Commercial flight flying through international airspace (representative image)

Indian airlines face longer routes, higher costs, and delayed global flight operations

Pakistan Shuts Airspace to Indian Aircraft

Indian airlines face longer routes, higher costs, and delayed global flight operations

April 25, 2025 | 12:20 IST