Taiwan Airlines Cleared to Use Pakistan Airspace
Taiwan airlines Pakistan airspace permission now runs to March 27, 2027, after days of confusion over whether the carriers had been barred from flying over the country. Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority issued overflight schedules for China Airlines and EVA Air covering October 28, 2026, to March 27, 2027, according to documents seen by Dawn.
The schedules settle, for now, a row that began with a Bloomberg report quoting Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. Asif told Bloomberg that Pakistan’s aviation division followed the One-China policy and that only mainland Chinese airlines had been permitted to fly over Pakistan. That report, carried in Feature Pakistan’s earlier account of the reported ban, said Taiwan’s carriers had started rerouting flights over the weekend. Bloomberg later updated its report to reflect the granting of overflight permission. Asif did not respond to a query from Dawn on the new documents.
Taiwan airlines Pakistan airspace: what the documents show
The documents approve passenger and cargo flights by both carriers for the winter season, which runs to late March. A diplomatic source told Dawn that overflight permissions for the two airlines had been extended. A source in the Civil Aviation Authority said the authority had not issued any NOTAM, a notice to airmen, announcing a ban on these airlines.
The aviation official referred the matter to the Foreign Office to establish whether any policy decision had been taken. The diplomatic source denied any such development, Dawn reported. The Associated Press, citing the same documents, reported that the approvals do not mention an earlier restriction. They also do not explain whether the authorisations represent a reversal. That gap leaves one central question unanswered: whether a ban was ever formally imposed, or whether the restriction existed only in the minister’s statement to Bloomberg.
A ban that was never formally issued
Flight-tracking data shows that both airlines stopped flying over Pakistan from the morning of October 25. At least a dozen flights between Asia and Europe were routed over Russia from Sunday onward, according to Flightradar24 data.
That detour carried an extra twist. Taiwanese carriers had generally avoided Russian airspace since February 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although they were never formally barred from using it. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration did not comment on the rerouting itself, but it said it had never banned its carriers from flying over Russia. Both airlines declined to comment on the route changes.
Longer routes add flying time and fuel costs, costs passengers feel in schedules first and fares later.
Pakistan maintains close political and military ties with China and does not recognise Taiwan as a separate state. At the same time, Taiwanese airlines have long used Pakistani airspace for routes to Europe. Pakistan has restricted airspace access before, in a different dispute: its ban on Indian airlines has already imposed heavy costs on carriers forced onto longer routes.
Taiwan and India react to the reversal
Taiwan’s government reacted sharply on Thursday, even as the permissions were confirmed. Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi told AFP that Pakistan had closed and then reopened its airspace to Taiwanese cargo and passenger flights. He said Taiwan suspected China was behind the move.
“We suspect definitely China was behind this,” Chen said, confirming that China Airlines and EVA Air had received notice that Pakistan would lift the ban, but only temporarily, till the end of winter. He condemned Pakistan and called it a very bad practice for China to use its influence over countries in the Global South in this way, warning that the episode got in the way of passenger safety and supply chains.
His remarks frame the winter-season permission as a pause, not a settlement. If the schedules are not renewed after March 27, the same confusion could return with the summer season.
India also weighed in on Wednesday. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India was open to direct flights between India and Taiwan, although he announced no confirmed routes or timelines.
