Pakistan refuses use of airspace for Srinagar-Sharjah flight

New Delhi, November 3

In a further sign of the chill in ties, Pakistan has abruptly withdrawn permission to a flight from Srinagar to Sharjah from flying over its airspace without giving any reason. A day earlier, Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf had announced that he would stay away from a meeting of regional players on Afghanistan convened by NSA Ajit Doval here on November 10.

Pakistan on Tuesday did not allow a Go First (formerly Go Air) flight to fly through its airspace leading to its rerouting over Gujarat that added around 40 minutes to the flight time. The MEA, Home Ministry and Civil Aviation Ministry have been informed. The flight for Sharjah was flagged off on October 23 by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A similar initiative 11 years ago had failed due to low passenger demand. The flight had last gone through Pakistan airspace on October 31. — TNS