Pakistan refuses its airspace for Srinagar-Sharjah flights

Pakistan has once again declined the use of its airspace for flights from Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar to Sharjah. Calling the move very unfortunate, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Pakistan did the same thing with the Air India Express flight from Srinagar to Dubai in 2009-2010. I had hoped that Go First being permitted to overfly Pak airspace was indicative of a thaw in relations, but alas, that wasn't to be."

Due to the decision, the flight from Srinagar to Sharjah will be more than an hour longer as planes will have to fly via Udaipur, Ahmedabad and Oman. The flight will also be more expensive.

The Srinagar-Sharjah flight was inaugurated on October 23 by Home Minister Amit Shah from the Sheikh Ul-Alam international airport in Srinagar, reviving the direct airlink between the valley and the UAE after 11 years.

After the inaugural flight, Omar Abdullah questioned if Pakistan had "a change of heart" and allowed the use of its airspace.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special VVIP flight, en route to Italy for the G20 Summit, flew over the Pakistani airspace on Friday and the aircraft used it again on its return journey after getting formal permission from Islamabad, according to a media report.

Prime Minister Modi's plane Boeing 777, 300ER, K7066 entered the Pakistani airspace from Bahawalpur, passed through Turbat and Panjgur and via Iran and Turkey reached Italy, The Express Tribune reported.