Pakistan Shuts Part Of Its Airspace As West Asia Conflict Intensifies, Over 300 Flights Cancelled

Last Updated:March 03, 2026, 16:22 IST

Pakistan shut parts of its airspace through March 31, issuing a NOTAM. Over 300 Gulf flights are down as US-Israeli strikes on Iran send regional aviation into a tailspin.

Pakistan has partially closed its airspace to commercial flights through the end of March, as the ongoing conflict in West Asia continues to disrupt air travel across the region.

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) stating that selected Air Traffic Service (ATS) route segments in the Karachi and Lahore flight zones would be unavailable daily from 9am to 3pm local time PKT (04:00 to 10:00 GMT) until March 31.

The authority cited “operational reasons" behind its decision without going into further detail, reported Al Jazeera.

The move comes after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which began Saturday, triggering a chain of regional airspace closures. Iran’s counterstrikes against Israeli and American bases in Gulf countries further tightened air corridors, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute thousands of flights across the region.

Adding to the strain on Pakistani airspace, the country has also been locked in an escalating conflict along its western border with Afghanistan. Pakistan has carried out multiple cross-border military strikes targeting militant positions inside Afghan territory, drawing sharp condemnation from Kabul.

The Taliban-led Afghan government has repeatedly signalled the possibility of retaliation, raising security concerns over flight paths that run close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier. Furthermore, Afghan forces on Tuesday, March 03 seized key Pakistani military posts along the border as clashes along the Durand Line entered the fifth consecutive day. The Afghan Defence Ministry said that its forces carried out retaliatory strikes on Pakistani bases following recent air raids by the Pakistan Air Force inside Afghan territory and claimed that multiple Pakistani posts had been captured in Kandahar province, including three in the Spin Boldak district and two in the Ali-Sher district.

The compounding pressure from West Asia, the Afghan border, and the evergreen contentious Radcliffe Line with India has placed Pakistani aviation authorities in an increasingly difficult position. Flight corridors near conflict-adjacent zones require constant monitoring and, at times, active rerouting.

Aviation analysts note that managing airspace becomes considerably more complex when a country faces simultaneous military activity on more than one front.

The impact on Pakistani aviation has been significant. An airport official, on the condition of anonymity told Arab News PK, that since the conflict started, more than 300 flights between Pakistan and Middle Eastern destinations had been cancelled nationwide, with over 100 flights cancelled on Monday alone.

In just the past 24 hours, around 184 international flights were grounded, hitting popular routes to Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Sharjah, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

Karachi airport reported the highest number of cancellations, with at least 32 flights scrapped on Monday alone. Lahore followed with 22 cancellations to Gulf destinations. Airports in Peshawar, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Multan also recorded cancellations, though exact numbers were not disclosed, reported Arab News PK.

News world Pakistan Shuts Part Of Its Airspace As West Asia Conflict Intensifies, Over 300 Flights Cancelled

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