The Hindu : Pak. not to open its airspace in the `near future'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 24, 2002

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Pak. not to open its airspace in the `near future'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD JULY 23. Six weeks after India offered to open its airspace for over-flight facilities to Pakistani aircraft on a reciprocal basis, Islamabad has said that it will not open its airspace for Indian passenger aircraft in the "near future." ``We are not in a hurry and would take a decision after considering all the aspects,'' the Pakistan Defence Secretary, Hamid Nawaz Khan, was quoted as telling presspersons after a function to mark the passing out parade of the Airport Security Force at the ASF training school, Karachi.

``The closure of Indian airspace for Pakistani aircraft was an irrational act,'' Lt. Gen. Khan said. And India was trying to "rectify its blunder" by putting the ball in Pakistan's court. It was India that had allowed over-flying facilities to the Pakistani planes, as the loss incurred by it due to the restriction was several times that of Pakistan.

Following the earlier decision of India to close its skies, which became operational on January 1, Pakistan International Airlines suspended its flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Colombo and Manila. Before withdrawal of the facility, PIA was operating 12 direct weekly flights to Delhi and Mumbai while 13 flights used the Indian airspace to reach airports in East Asia.

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