Islamabad airport to suspend flight operations for two hours on March 17

The Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) has announced that flight operations at Islamabad International Airport will remain suspended for two hours on March 17 from 08:30 am to 10:30 am Pakistan Standard Time.

In a fresh notice to airmen (Notam), the authority said both arrival and departure operations at the airport would be halted during the specified period for operational reasons.

Airlines were advised to ensure that arriving aircraft carry sufficient holding fuel to accommodate possible delays during the temporary closure.

Earlier, the authority had issued a notice stating that flight operations would be suspended at the airport on March 16. However, that notice was later cancelled, and the PAA confirmed that normal operations would continue on that day.

The revised notice shifted the temporary suspension of flight operations to March 17 instead.

The development comes as aviation activity across the region remains affected by the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States, which has disrupted air routes and flight schedules in several countries, including Pakistan.

According to aviation sources, flights to Middle Eastern destinations have faced significant disruption over the past two weeks. Around 80 flights scheduled for Gulf destinations were cancelled on Sunday alone, bringing the total number of cancellations to 1,576 over the past 16 days.

Karachi recorded the highest number of cancellations on Sunday, with about 26 flights unable to depart for destinations including Doha, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Islamabad and Lahore airports each reported 18 cancelled flights, while 14 flights were cancelled from Peshawar and four from Multan.

Flight operations at Sialkot and Faisalabad airports continued without disruption.