India has raised the issue of allowing overflight for the Srinagar-Sharjah flight with Pakistan. For this, India has made its point through diplomatic channels and asked to give the approval ‘in the larger interest of the common people’.
Sources said that on October 23, 24, 26 and 28, Pakistani authorities had given overflight clearance to GoFirst flights to operate the Srinagar-Sharjah sector. After this, Pakistan stopped the approval for the same flight for the period from 31 October to 30 November 2021.
India has raised the issue of allowing overflight for the Srinagar-Sharjah flight with Pakistan. For this, India has made its point through diplomatic channels and has asked for approval ‘in the larger interest of the common people’. Sources said that on October 23, 24, 26 and 28, Pakistani authorities had given overflight clearance to GoFirst flights to operate the Srinagar-Sharjah sector.
After this, Pakistan stopped the approval for the same flight for the period from 31 October to 30 November 2021.
This sudden decision of Pakistan forced the budget airline to restart the service and add an extra 40 minutes to its flight time. “The matter was taken up with Pakistan through diplomatic channels and Pakistan was requested to grant overflight clearance for this flight in the larger interest of the general public booking tickets on this route,” the source said.
Let us tell you that 10 days after the start of the flight between Srinagar and Sharjah, Pakistan has expressed its objection. The flight was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Now National Conference leader Umar Abdullah has said very unfortunate about this matter and PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti has blamed the Center for not doing ‘no ground work’ before starting the service.
If the aircraft had taken off as before, it would have taken three hours and 40 minutes to enter Pakistani airspace, take off over Lahore and proceed to the southwest of Pakistan and enter Iranian airspace before landing in Sharjah. . In the changed route, the aircraft then proceeded south from Srinagar and entered the United Arab Emirates via Oman airspace before heading west while flying over Rajasthan and Gujarat. As a result, the flight duration reached four hours and 20 minutes.
According to information received from flight tracking portal Flightradar24, other flights from India to West Asia and Europe are using Pakistan’s airspace. GoFirst, formerly known as GoAir, also operated five flights from Srinagar to Sharjah after its launch on 23 October, using Pakistani airspace.
In fact, this is the first air connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir and the UAE since 2009, when the Air India Express service between Srinagar and Dubai was suspended within a few months due to low demand. Pakistan had also banned the use of its airspace on Air India Express flight.
On the launch of the Srinagar-Sharjah flight, GoFirst CEO Kaushik Khona said, “We are delighted to be the first airline to connect Jammu and Kashmir with the UAE and this is a testament to our commitment to the region. We believe that this connectivity will be important in the bilateral exchange of trade and tourism between the two regions.
Two years ago, after the Balakot airstrike in February 2019, Pakistan closed its airspace and forced Indian and foreign airlines to take longer routes, which increased flight duration to 70-90 minutes .
The airspace ban remained in place for more than five months, causing losses of over Rs 550 crore in additional costs to Indian carriers alone.
