Pakistan re-starting some flights, to fully re-open commercial airspace Monday

[ISLAMABAD] Four Pakistani airports will begin partial operations on Friday with a full resumption of commercial flights on Monday, following their suspension after military tensions with India erupted earlier this week, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

A spokeswoman said Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta airports would begin some flights on Friday with the remainder opening next week.

"These four airports will resume flight operations partially today," she said.

She said airspace for all commercial flights would be re-opened on March 4 at 1.00 pm (0800 GMT).

The decision to re-open Pakistani airspace came amid signs that the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was cooling with an Indian pilot shot down and captured by Pakistani forces this week due to be returned home on Friday.

The closure of Pakistan's airspace has disrupted not just the country's own air transport but also flights worldwide as airlines were forced to cancel or reroute flights to other destinations that pass over Pakistan.

This week flights between Asia and Europe were severely affected by the closure, with thousands of passengers stranded, although airlines were later able to reroute many flights through China that normally pass over Pakistan.

REUTERS