New Delhi: Kashmiris traveling to and from Srinagar and Sharjah have to spend extra time in travel, thanks to Pakistan's denial of overflight rights to the air service inaugurated with much fanfare about two weeks back.
Wadia Group-run budget carrier 'Go First', which is the only airline operating direct flights between Srinagar and Sharjah since October 23, has been denied permission by Pakistan's civil aviation authorities to use the Pakistani airspace, sources in the know told UNI.
They said the Srinagar-Sharjah flight of Go First (formerly Go Air) is now flying via Udaipur/Ahmedabad and overflying Oman. This means almost 90 minutes of extra flight time.
The air service between Srinagar and Sharjah was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 23 in view of a longstanding desire of Kashmiris for a direct flight between the two cities.
The flights operated through the Pakistani airspace for about a week, before Pakistan suddenly refused permission, the sources said.
"The airline started the flight on October 23, 2021 and continued to use Pakistani airspace till October 30. But Pakistan civil aviation authority suddenly stopped overflying permit to the SXR-SHJ-SXR flight. As a result, flying time has gone up by more than one hour, " sources told UNI.
The Civil Aviation Ministry is taking up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), they said.
'Go First' official spokesperson did not respond to queries from UNI, sent through SMS, regarding the matter.
When contacted, officials in Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) said there is no official communication from Pakistan to bar flights between Srinagar and Sharjah from using its airspace. (UNI)