Sialkot International Airport addressed confusion surrounding a Qatar Airways flight arriving from Doha, confirming it landed at Sialkot airport on the morning of September 27. The airport spokesperson, Umair Khan, clarified that the aircraft departed back to Doha as per its scheduled time.
The misunderstanding arose because the flight’s location was incorrectly displayed on the tracking website FlightRadar24, caused by a technical glitch and inaccurate GPS data. Khan emphasized that the flight landed at Sialkot International Airport, not in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). This was further corroborated by radar data from the Pakistan Airports Authority.
Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to enforce a ban on all Indian-registered aircraft and those operated or leased by Indian airlines, including military flights, within its airspace. This restriction, first implemented on April 23, 2025, has been extended multiple times. The ban followed New Delhi’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty after the deadly Pahalgam attack in IIOJK, which India blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad has denied involvement and called for an impartial investigation.
In retaliation, India closed its airspace to Pakistani airlines on April 30 of the previous year. These reciprocal airspace closures have had a more significant financial impact on India’s aviation sector, while Pakistan’s industry has faced relatively minor disruptions.
Notably, Pakistan has imposed similar airspace restrictions during past conflicts, including the 1999 Kargil war and the 2019 Pulwama crisis. In those instances, Indian airlines encountered greater operational difficulties compared to Pakistani carriers.
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