India has asked Pakistan to restore the permission given earlier to the Srinagar-Sharjah flight to use its airspace in the interest of the people who booked the tickets. Pakistani authorities had granted overflight clearance to GoFirst to operate its Srinagar-Sharjah flight on October 23, October 24, October 26, and October 28. However, the permission was put on hold for the period of October 31 to November 30, 2021.
Pakistan has refused to allow GoFirst to use its airspace for the international flight, which was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 23.
The matter was immediately taken up with Pakistan through diplomatic channels. India requested Pakistan to grant overflight clearance in larger interest of the common people who have booked tickets on the route.
The Srinagar-Sharjah flights were allowed access to Pakistani airspace upto October 30 but on November 2, the flight had to turn west over the Arabian Sea, adding over 1 hour to flight time. Go First said it would continue to offer the service but warned that increased time of 1 hour and distance will increase fuel cost and thereby ticket prices.
Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had expressed disappointment over the issue, recalling a similar initiative in 2009 when a once-a-week flight was started between Srinagar and Dubai but was cancelled within a few months.
“Very unfortunate. Pakistan did the same thing with the Air India Express flight from Srinagar to Dubai in 2009-2010. I had hoped that @GoFirstairways being permitted to overfly Pak airspace was indicative of a thaw in relations but alas that wasn’t to be,” he said in a tweet.
