Airspace closure costs Pakistan over $50 million

July 20, 2019 00:06

Pakistan suffered a whopping $50 million (Rs 344 crore) loss after it closed its airspace with India for nearly five months following the Balakot air strikes in February, according to the country's aviation minister, who underlined that Islamabad's action hit New Delhi "harder."

Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in retaliation for the Pulwama attack carried out by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit.

While India removed some airspace restrictions later, Pakistan kept the ban in place along its eastern border with India for nearly five months, leading to increased flght time for passengers and huge fuel costs to airlines.

Pakistan opened its airspace for all civilian traffic on Tuesday early morning, removing the ban on Indian flights that were not allowed to use majority of its airspace since the Balakot air strikes.

The airspace closure disrupted Indian flights headed west. It also forced Pakistan International Airlines to suspend some of its flights, and effectively closed off major international routes in and out of Islamabad and Lahore.

"But this restriction hit India harder than Pakistan. The loss of India is almost double. But at this juncture detente and harmony are required from both sides," Khan said.

-- PTI

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