Why Pakistan closing off its airspace is such a major step
In the wake of the allegations and counter-allegations that both India and Pakistan lobbed against each other over making incursions into each other's airspace, shutting down a few key regional airports was a crucial move that both the sides took.
India lifted the shutdown on selected airports a few hours later — but Pakistan has extended the lockdown and for the second consecutive day. Its entire airspace has been closed off for several hours now.
The move is significant — and unprecedented in recent history. Its ramifications go beyond the current bilateral tension.
When does a country close off its airspace?
One may remember how the Federal Aviation Administration, for the first time ever, shut down the airspace of the United States, following the 9/11 terror attack.
Going by the rulebook, airspace restrictions serve mainly two purposes: One, to ensure the safety of aircraft and their occupants; Two, to protect the people on the ground.
The decision is taken by the country as in general, the airspace over a country is controlled by that nation's authorities. Pilots and airlines have to follow the directives of the country in which they are registered.
Closing off their airspace now means commercial flights can neither land, nor take off from any airport in Pakistan.
All flights using Pakistani airspace en route have to divert.
International air traffic severely disrupted
Following this embargo, international air traffic has been thrown into a tizzy. Thai Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, GulfAir, SriLankan Airlines, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines and British Airways have cancelled and/or rescheduled or diverted their flights. Thousands of passengers are stranded in Pakistan and elsewhere due to the airspace lockdown.
As aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas said to CNN, this is a serious disruption as all traffic has been pushed much further south over the top of the Arabian Gulf.
“You can’t go further north as you are then flying over the Himalayas — and you can’t do that. You’re locked into this corridor.”
Re-routing involves a sudden hike in cost.
International airlines alarmed
As a report of the Independent points out, since the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over an area of Ukraine occupied by Russia separatists, pilots and airlines are wary of flying over any conflict zones.
Even if the embargo is lifted by midnight today, whether it would create a similar impact with international airlines fearful of using Pakistan-Afghanistan airspace remains to be seen.