Pakistan Airspace Restrictions: the 2019 Closure

No. It was published in April 2019 and describes closures from that period, which were lifted later the same year. It is kept as a record of how a closure of that kind affects private movements. Regional airspace status changes, so verify it for your dates before planning.

According to the NOTAM published by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, the general closure of the country's airspace to international transit flights remained in effect until at least 15:00 local time on Wednesday, May 15. Pakistan continued a limited opening of its airspace for commercial flights during that time.

A number of routes connecting China and Iran remained available, plus a few connecting Oman and India through Pakistan's airspace over the Gulf of Oman. For flights between India and Iran, only one route was available: airway P518. Everything else had to route around the closed airspace.

India and Oman became congested with flights rerouting around Pakistan. There were reports of lengthy ATC detours of 30 to 50 minutes through Indian airspace because of that congestion. India advised that flights to Europe from all southern Indian airports could use oceanic airway N571.

Both India and Oman published NOTAMs listing the restrictions on the various overflight routes, advising operators to carry extra fuel and to expect lower flight levels than requested. With ATC detours of up to 50 minutes being assigned, additional fuel was highly recommended for the operation.

Not fully. The airway closures themselves were not mentioned in any NOTAM, and ATC raised no objection when flight plans were filed. Crews only discovered the detours when ATC assigned them in flight, which is why fuel and time buffers mattered during that period.