Tracking Airspace Disturbances Attributable to India-Pakistan Tensions
Air travel disruptions linked to India-Pakistan conflict
A series of visualizations produced by Reuters has revealed the extent of flight delays resulting from the India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025. One of these charts, presented here, demonstrates the changes in flight durations for 75 regular routes connecting northern Indian cities with destinations typically passing through Pakistani airspace.
Using data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India, FlightRadar24, and Natural Earth, the visualization illustrates each flight's deviation from its average pre-ban duration (y-axis) across the dates April 9 to 30 (x-axis). The darker the dot appears on the chart, the more flights experienced the same delay on a particular day.
Flights to the Americas experienced the greatest delays, with an average extension of 2.8 hours, followed by flights to Europe, delayed by over an hour, and those to the Middle East by approximately 18 minutes.
These significant delays can be attributed to the reciprocal airspace closures and military actions between India and Pakistan, which critically disrupted global aviation routes. Pakistan initially closed its airspace to Indian aircraft on April 24, 2025, prompting India to reciprocate by banning Pakistani aircraft from its airspace shortly thereafter [4]. Further escalation, including direct military action by India on May 7, 2025, led most international airlines to avoid Pakistani airspace entirely [3][4].
In addition, India closed up to 32 airports in its northern and western regions, while Pakistan suspended flights from key airports like Karachi, Lahore, and Sialkot [1][3][5], further compounding the disruptions. As a result, airlines were forced to reroute flights, leading to longer travel times, cancellations, and increased delays [1][3][4].
These disruptions affected both direct flights and connecting routes, causing delays and cancellations for passengers traveling between the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East via South Asia. Lufthansa, KLM, Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways were among the airlines affected, with flights to and from India and Pakistan being suspended or delayed, particularly between Europe and Asia as well as between the Middle East and South Asia [1][3].
Over 430 flights were canceled in India and 147 in Pakistan on May 7, 2025, further exacerbating the impact of these disruptions [3]. Global network effects resulted from the interconnected nature of air travel, causing additional delays and cancellations for passengers traveling beyond the directly affected regions [1][4].
In conclusion, the India-Pakistan military escalation led to reciprocal airspace bans and the closure of key regional airports, compelling airlines to take longer, less efficient routes. These measures resulted in significant disruptions for passengers traveling to and through the affected regions [1][3][4].
- The use of AI in predicting and managing flight disruptions related to the India-Pakistan conflict in the data industry could have minimized delays for airlines in the future.
- As the India-Pakistan conflict in 2025 significantly affected finance, protests against rising airfare and loss of earnings in the aerospace industry and transportation sector were reported.
- In politics, leaders were criticized for not doing enough to ensure open airspace routes during the India-Pakistan conflict, as it affected general news coverage and international meetings.
- War-and-conflicts specialists argue that future conflicts between nations should be carefully monitored, as they can lead to unforeseen impacts on the global aerospace and transportation industries.
