Pakistan shuts airspace to India: How much money will it lose?

A new debate has erupted online after a Pakistani X (formerly Twitter) user shared a video showing an Indian flight taking a longer route to avoid Pakistan's airspace. The user cheekily commented, "Aur lo Panga" ("Now face the consequences"). But it seems the real consequences could hurt Pakistan more.

What's Happening?

In response to India's decision to downgrade Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists on March 22, Pakistan has closed its skies to Indian flights. Now, Indian airlines flying to Europe, the Middle East, and North America are forced to take longer, more expensive routes.

While Indian carriers like Air India and IndiGo will face higher fuel costs and longer flight times, aviation experts believe Pakistan stands to lose much more — financially.

Big Financial Hit for Pakistan

Responding to the viral video, X user Naren Menon pointed out the huge losses Pakistan could face.

"Pakistan loses 'overflight fees' from the 3rd largest (and fastest-growing) aviation market in the world," he wrote. "That's easily hundreds of millions of USD every year. Never in the history of mankind has there been so much collective stupidity in a land."

Overflight fees are charges airlines pay to fly through a country’s airspace — a major source of income for Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). By blocking Indian flights, Pakistan will miss out on a big chunk of this revenue.

Lessons From the Past

This isn’t the first time Pakistan has shut its skies to India.

After the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, Pakistan closed its airspace, affecting about 400 flights a day.

Here's how the numbers looked back then:

A Boeing 737 typically paid around $580 to fly over Pakistan; larger planes paid even more.

Pakistan lost around $232,000 per day just from overflight fees.

Including landing, parking, and other charges, daily losses climbed to about $300,000.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also suffered, losing approximately $460,000 every day due to rerouted or cancelled flights.

In total, when Pakistan finally reopened its airspace, the losses had stacked up to nearly $100 million.

Bottom Line

While Indian airlines will absorb some extra costs in fuel and time, Pakistan's aviation sector faces a much heavier economic blow. In an already struggling economy, losing millions in overflight revenue could make a bad situation even worse.