Pakistan closes a corridor of its air space

PTI, Aug 8, 2019, 10:10 AM IST

New Delhi: Pakistan has closed a corridor in its airspace, which will result in an additional up to12 minutes of flying time for overseas flights, an Air India official said on Wednesday. The flights will have to be diverted to other routes due to the closure, the official said.

“One air corridor has been closed (in Pakistani airspace), requiring a maximum of 12 minutes diversion. It will not affect us (much),” said the Air India spokesperson. Air India operates around 50 flights daily through Pakistani airspace.

These are flights to the US, Europe and the Middle East. Following the Balakot air strikes, Pakistan had closed its airspace on February 26 and it was fully reopened on July 16.

The Indian government on Monday abolished provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Article 370 granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and allowed it to have its own flag and constitution, among other rights.