Web Desk: Airspace closures across the Middle East continue to disrupt commercial aviation, forcing airlines to cancel dozens of flights from Pakistan as regional tensions persist.
Several countries in the Middle East have kept their airspace closed due to ongoing conflict, significantly affecting international flight operations. As a result, airlines operating from Pakistan cancelled 88 flights on Sunday, aviation authorities said.
Despite the widespread disruption, some flights to the United Arab Emirates continued to operate. Authorities said 57 flights were scheduled to operate to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
However, major routes from Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, faced heavy cancellations. A total of 27 flights from Karachi to destinations including Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dammam were cancelled due to operational constraints linked to the regional airspace situation.
The disruption affected airports across Pakistan. Officials reported that 16 flights from Lahore were cancelled, while Islamabad saw 22 cancellations.
Meanwhile, Peshawar recorded 10 cancelled flights, followed by seven in Multan and four in Faisalabad. Two flights departing from Sialkot were also cancelled.
A day earlier, on Saturday, airlines managed to operate 42 flights from several Pakistani cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Peshawar, Sialkot and Faisalabad to destinations in the Middle East, according to aviation officials.
In a separate incident, a flight departing from Multan for Sharjah experienced a brief disruption after reports of an explosion at Dubai airport.
Flight G9559 took off from Multan but returned shortly after departure due to the situation at the destination airport. Authorities later confirmed that the situation normalized, allowing the flight to resume its journey.
Airlines and aviation authorities continue to monitor developments in the region, warning that further schedule changes remain possible if airspace restrictions persist.
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