No relief yet for flyers as Pak extends airspace ban

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 15

The extension of airspace ban by Pakistan along the eastern border with India till June 28 will continue to affect nearly six flights from Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport.

Two international flights continue to remain cancelled and five are being flown on long routes after Pakistan completely shut its airspace on February 26 following the IAF’s airstrikes in Balakot.

Air India’s Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham and Turkmenistan’s Amritsar-Ashgabat-Birmingham flights continue to remain cancelled. Their termination is causing much inconvenience to passengers, majority of them are NRIs and their relatives.

Uzbekistan’s Amritsar-Tashkent and Qatar’s Amritsar-Doha flights are being flown via Mumbai instead of shorter route via Lahore.

Similarly, all three flights to Dubai being operated by SpiceJet, Indigo and Air India Express are taking a longer route to avoid Pakistan airspace as they fly over Arabian Sea via Mumbai.