Pakistan CAA has declared the national airspace “Closed Until Further Notice”
Notam A0200/19 NOTAMN Q)OPXX/QRAXX///W/000/999/ A)OPKR OPLR B)1902270730 C)1902282359 EST E)PAKISTAN AIRSPACE IS CLOSED.)
Pakistan – all aircraft enroute have been rerouted around Pakistan airspace.
No traffic currently overflying.
How this happened?
The airspace is closed because of escalating tension between the two countries, following the shooting down of two Indian military jets.
When will it end?
The Pakistan Notam is currently valid until the end of Thursday. It looks like a lot depends on the politics to be played out as this unfolds.
Further Notams
Afghanistan
G0440/19 NOTAMN Q) OAKX/QARLC/IV/NBO/E/000/999/ A) OAKX B) 1902270800 C) 1905272359 E) KABUL FIR NOT ACCEPTING ANY OVERFLIGHT TRAFFIC VIA ALL AIRWAYS DUE TO PAKISTAN AIRSPACE BEING CLOSED.
EXPECT AIRSPACE OPENING WHEN PAKISTAN BEGINS ACCEPTING AIRCRAFT.
AIRCRAFT LANDING IN KABUL FIR ARE PERMITTED ENTRY.
Eurocontrol assessment of impact (Network Manager)
First impact assessment shows:- 400 daily flights impacted that will be rerouted mainly south west via MUSCAT FIR
- Severe impact on Iran (extra flights) and Georgia/Azerbaijan (lost flights) with more than 100 flights re-routed. Flight through Turkey will come from the interface with Iran instead of to/from Georgia – this should not be a major issue.
- The choice of rerouting is left to airlines.
Impact on airlines
Thai Airways has taken the more drastic step of suspending all its flights destined for Europe.
With flight space south of Pakistan becoming crowded, the Bangkok-based airline has not been able to establish alternative routes for its flights.
"By closing the airspace, every flight from Thailand to Europe has been affected. For flights that are going to depart this evening, we will call an urgent meeting to consider the impact of such events."
said Thai Airways president Sumeth Damrongchaitham.
SQ308 and SQ318 would stop in Dubai and Mumbai respectively to refuel before proceeding to London, while SQ326 would stop in Mumbai for refuelling before heading to Frankfurt, provided the aircraft was able to arrive ahead of the airport curfew.
Numerous commercial flights to Pakistan, including those operated by Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air and Qatar Airways, were suspended while British Airways was among those that were forced to reroute flights to avoid the affected airspace.
Watch this space as we will continue to update here with latest news.
Update 5:24pm GMT 28 Feb 2019
Below is the latest Tweet issued by Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, I am not sure why they use EST but after some research finding, the airspace is closed till 8am GMT on March 01.
New revised NOTAMN issued on suspension of #Pakistan airspace until 0800 EST on 1st March 19.🇵🇰
You can do your own calculations of time conversion to PST & please contact your airline for further details. pic.twitter.com/HPlhEIfz9e — CAA Pakistan (@AirportPakistan) February 28, 2019