ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has reversed its decision and allowed Taiwanese flights to use its airspace, after fully closing it to Taiwan’s airlines in line with China’s “One China” policy.
According to Bloomberg, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority has permitted Taiwanese carriers EVA Air Corporation and China Airlines Limited to use Pakistani airspace from October 28 to March 27.
Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg News: “Our aviation division is following the ‘One China’ policy, under which only mainland China is permitted. We have only allowed Chinese airlines to fly over Pakistan.”
According to Flightradar24 tracking data, Taiwan’s leading carriers China Airlines Limited and EVA Air Corporation began changing their routes last weekend, and both stopped using Pakistani airspace entirely from the morning of October 25.
Since Sunday, at least a dozen of their flights between Asia and Europe have flown over Russia.
Taiwan’s civil aviation authority did not comment on the rerouting, but said it has never barred its airlines from flying over Russia.
Although Russia never formally banned Taiwanese airlines, they had, like most Asian, European and North American carriers, generally avoided Russian airspace since the Ukraine war.
Bloomberg said Pakistan’s latest restrictions were stricter than mainland China’s own policy, as China allows Taiwanese airlines to use its airspace.
Taiwanese airlines had relied heavily on Pakistani airspace for their flights between Asia and Europe. Data shows 14 flights by the two airlines crossed Pakistan on October 24.
Rerouting via South Asia, the Middle East or Russia has added several hours to flight times. The longer routes and extra distance will significantly raise jet fuel costs, dealing a heavy financial blow to Taiwanese airlines.
