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Saturday April 20, 2024

Pak-India airspace closure: National institutions suffer Rs2.55 bn loss

By Sohail Afzal
March 14, 2019

KARACHI: Pakistan and India have closed their airspace for each other for the last two weeks after rise in tension between the two countries due to which the national institutions of Pakistan have suffered losses of Rs2.55 billion.

The airlines and civil aviation authorities of both thecountries are enduring massive losses. The flights between Europe to Far-East are not only facing massive financial losses, but the flight duration has also increased, while the airlines have also increased their ticket prices.

The schedule of the airlines flying on these routes has also been affected. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suffered loss of Rs1.05 billion due to closure of certain routes for the airline, while the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan has incurred a loss of around Rs1.5 billion so far due to prevailing tension.

Only a few large airports are still open, while the airlines are now using long routes due to which the air travel duration has increased, which has resulted into increase in air fares. Only the PIA is suffering a loss of over 70 million on daily basis in the head of fuel charges.