Pakistan’s airspace continues to remain shut for overflying international flights, now 20 days after Indian airstrikes in Balakot. And while its own airlines and passengers take a hit—at least four airports including Sialkot remain shut—even Indian carriers are now being affected.

Pakistan airspace closure

Following strikes by Indian Air Force on 26 February 2019, both countries enforced an airspace closure: India shut down 9 airports in north India, while Pakistan grounded all air traffic across the country. But while India lifted the closure within hours, Pakistan has been circumspect even 20 days later.

Air India worst hit

And now, it’s starting to hurt other airlines. Flight-tracking service FlightRadar24 reports that nearly 400 flights every day are being rerouted because of the closure. Worst affected is Air India, which operates 66 flights to Europe every week, and 33 to North America. Not allowed to fly over Pakistan, the airline has to take a much longer to reach its destinations.

DNA reports that flight times have gone up by as much as three hours. This means higher fuel costs and longer duty hours for the airline crew. Air India has now asked its inactive staff—anyone on any kind of leave—to resume work till they tide over the “crisis”. Some reports estimate that the airline is losing up to Rs3 crore per day due to these longer routes.

The airline has now suspended flights from Delhi and Chandigarh to Madrid and Birmingham till further notice.

Near-miss in congested skies

And it’s not just about the money. With a bulk of traffic now diverting through Mumbai, the airspace over the city is getting congested. And this overload nearly resulted in a mid-air crash last week. An Air France Boeing 777 and an Etihad Airbus 320 came dangerously close over the Arabian Sea, before the anti-collision warnings came on and one of the aircraft swung away.

When AF253 SGN-CDG nearly collided in midair with EY290 AUH-KTM on 15 Mar 0810UTC

Watch this @flightradar24 12x FF replay of Etihad A320 avoiding Air France B77W after TCAS warning

Heavy congestion at Mumbai ATC due closure of Pakistan airspace for most overflights. pic.twitter.com/3IqAzz60Ir — Kunda Dixit (@kundadixit) March 18, 2019

Pakistan’s aviation regulator has been extending the closure by a few days each time. The latest extension is till today, 18 March. Will things change?