In retaliation for India’s decision to downgrade Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists on March 22, Pakistan has shut its airspace to India. As a result, airlines operating international flights to and from India are taking longer, alternate routes, which could likely cause a consistent rise in flight ticket prices. However, Pakistan is likely to suffer a greater impact on its aviation sector than India, further worsening the country’s debt-ridden economic state. Since Indian flights are now avoiding flying over Pakistan, Pakistan will lose the money it used to earn from ‘overflight fees’- the charges airlines pay when they pass through a country’s airspace.
X Post
A post by a Pakistani X user, has now triggered a debate on this. The user posted a video on social media showing an Indian flight taking a longer route to avoid Pakistan. She commented, “Aur lo Panga.”
Responding to her post, X user Naren Menon pointed out the financial impact of Pakistan’s move.
He wrote, “Pakistan loses ‘overflight fees’ from the 3rd largest (and fastest growing) aviation market in the world. That’s easily hundreds of millions of USD every year. Never in the history of mankind has there been so much collective stupidity in a land.”
Pakistan loses “overflight fees” from the 3rd largest (and fastest growing) aviation market in the world. That’s easily hundreds of millions of USD every year
Never in the history of mankind has there been so much collective stupidity in a land https://t.co/KMhdHA06xJ
— Naren Menon (@NarenMenon1) April 26, 2025
Naren Menon explained that the large number of flights from India, especially westwards towards Europe and North America, meant that blocking Indian carriers would be very costly for Pakistan.
But Menon explained that most flights from India to the West are operated by Indian airlines like Air India and IndiGo. Therefore, the loss of revenue from Indian flights crossing its airspace will be a significant blow to Pakistan’s already debt-ridden economy.
Pakistan Will Feel The Heat
Indian airlines will have to spend more money on fuel and take longer routes because they are avoiding Pakistan’s airspace. But Pakistan’s problem is even bigger — it will lose the money it used to earn from flights passing through its skies.
This is not the first time something like this has happened between India and Pakistan.
Hindustan Times reported that Pakistan lost nearly $100 million after closing its airspace after Pulwama terror attack. At that time, about 400 flights were affected per day, causing big losses to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
A study found that a Boeing 737 had to pay about $580 to fly over Pakistan, and bigger planes were charged even more. Officials said that Pakistan was losing about $232,000 every day just from overflight charges after shutting its airspace at that time. When they included other fees like landing and parking, reports suggest that the daily loss rose to around $300,000. In addition, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) lost about $460,000 every day because it cancelled many international flights and rerouted domestic flights over longer paths. Altogether, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and PIA were losing around $760,000 every day. By the time the airspace reopened, Pakistan had suffered a total loss of almost $100 million.
