Business Desk 
May 11, 2025
Following four days of fierce combat, Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire, relieving thousands of travellers.
After the truce, UAE carriers have begun resuming flight operations to Pakistan, although flights to India are still severely impacted.
UAE resumes flights in Pakistan
UAE carriers such as Emirates, Etihad, Flydubai, and Air Arabia resumed partial operations to Pakistan from Sunday, May 11. This follows the confirmation by the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) that the airspace of the country is now open.
"All airports are prepared for normal flight operations," a PAA spokesperson stated.
However, travellers have been told to verify their flight status as operations take a while to resume normalcy.
Most of the equipment and aircraft had been relocated to safe locations during the war, resulting in delays.
Dubai International Airport has resumed operations to big cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot, Peshawar, and Islamabad.
The inaugural flight to Islamabad will depart on Monday, May 12, 2025, while the flights to Peshawar will resume on May 13. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah airports also reopened flights to significant Pakistani destinations.
There were still a huge number of flights cancelled on Sunday. Whereas Karachi had 45 flights cancelled, Lahore 38, and Islamabad 40. Most were international.
In the meantime, air travel between India and the UAE continues to be severely disrupted.
India's aviation authorities closed 32 airports in the north and west of India, including Amritsar, Srinagar, and Jammu, for "operational reasons".
These closures will continue until May 15, causing significant delays and diversion.
