Avoid Landing in Pakistan Unless In ‘Extreme Emergency’, Pilots Told 

Hyderabad: The relations between India and Pakistan continue to head downwards with more and more sectors being affected each week. Media, entertainment, trading and sports industries it seems are only the beginning of pangs. Direct and indirect, formal and informal instructions are being passed onto many other sectors also.

Flight dispatchers in the aviation industry have allegedly received informal instructions to overfly Pakistani airspace and avoid landing in Pakistan unless there is an extreme emergency, such as a fire onboard.

Westbound flights have been asked to use airports in Muscat, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in case of an emergency. Almost all flights from northcentral and east India to and from Gulf, Europe and America fly over Pakistan. They have also been directed not to prefer airports in Iran and Afghanistan either.

It is reported that similar instructions were also issued at the time of Kandhahar hijacking, 9/11 and 26/11.

Though India keeps showing more restraint Pakistan has been trying to impose more restrictions on its airspace that has resulted in Indian carriers affecting changes in their international flying routes.