PAA imposes short route curbs

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Saturday announced temporary changes to flight routes serving the Karachi and Lahore regions for the coming week, citing operational safety and air-traffic management concerns.

"The restrictions are effective from Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 5:01am Pakistan Standard Time (PKT) and will remain in place until Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 9am PKT," said a NOTAM (notice to airmen) issued by the PAA.

The authority clarified the measure was precautionary, underlining that "This is a routine operational safety matter. The measure is being implemented for 'operational reasons' to ensure the continued safety and effective management of air traffic".

The announcement from Islamabad came as open-source aviation tracker Damien Symon flagged a separate NOTAM issued by Indian aviation authorities a day earlier. He said the notice was "possibly for a military exercise/weapons test as India prepares for its Tri-Services Exercise across the border".