Pakistan authorities announce closure of selected air traffic routes for 2 days

Islamabad: Pakistan aviation authorities announced closure of selected air traffic routes for two days next week due to unspecified operational reasons, officials said on Saturday.

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) in a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said that the "selected routes would remain closed for air traffic on both July 22 and 23 from 5:15 UTC to 8:15 UTC." The selected routes within "Karachi and Lahore Flight Information Regions are not available from ground level to unlimited altitude due to operational reasons,” PAA added.

It indicated that the routes will be closed to "all aircraft regardless of altitude due to operational issues, which could include military activity, maintenance, airspace reconfiguration, etc." The NOTAM also provided details of all routes and available alternatives.