From 8:30 PM on May 7 to 11:59 PM on May 8, over 104 passenger planes traversed the skies over Pakistan. Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Air Force disclosed that despite launching drone and missile attacks on India, Pakistan did not shut down their air routes. She mentioned that Pakistan deliberately used a regular passenger plane as a shield, knowing that India could retaliate swiftly.
Source: aajtak
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh emphasized that such a scenario poses significant danger to civilian aircraft, particularly international flights, operating near the international border. She confirmed that India had closed its airspace for security reasons, preventing any civilian flights from operating in the region.
The analysis reveals how vulnerable the skies became; from May 7 evening till the next midnight, Pakistan continued its normal flight operations at Islamabad, approximately 133 kilometers from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), Lahore merely 17 kilometers from the international border, and Karachi 173 kilometers from the boundary. Notably, around 39 flights were operated by foreign airlines such as Etihad, Emirates, Flynas, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Gulf Air, and Jazeera. During a press conference, a Pakistani military spokesperson claimed that while India was bombing, Pakistan kept its airspace open.
