Pakistan on Wednesday closed its airspace for commercial flights and suspended flight operations across major airports, including in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, for an indefinite period in the wake of the escalating tensions with India.
Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority made the announcement after the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's media arm, acknowledged the closure of Pakistan's airspace due to the prevailing security situation.
The airports will be used for 'military purposes' until they reopen for commercial activities, an official told DawnNewsTV, adding that a red alert has also been issued.
'All civilian flight operations have been suspended,' the official said.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Mujtaba Baig said the flight operations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces have been suspended for an indefinite period.
He said the flight operations to and from Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi/Islamabad airports have been suspended.
The planes that had left from foreign destinations for these airports have been diverted to the safer airports, he said.
Earlier, DawnNewsTV, quoting sources at the Karachi airport, said Pakistan International Airlines' New Delhi-bound flight PK-270 had been cancelled due to tensions at the Line of Control.
