ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has restored airspace access for Taiwanese airlines after briefly suspending their flights, with an EVA Air aircraft becoming the first Taiwanese commercial flight to cross Pakistani airspace since the restrictions, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority renewed permits for Taiwanese airlines on Wednesday, with the authorisations valid until March 27.
EVA Air Flight 65, travelling from Taipei to Vienna, entered Pakistani airspace at around 3:30am Pakistan time on Thursday, according to flight-tracking data cited by Bloomberg.
However, other Europe-bound flights operated by EVA Air and China Airlines that departed late Wednesday and early Thursday continued to avoid Pakistani airspace, instead flying over Russia or routing through India.
Pakistan had restricted Taiwanese passenger and cargo flights from using its airspace over the weekend. The move was linked in the report to Islamabad’s support for Beijing’s One-China policy, under which China considers Taiwan part of its territory.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had earlier told Bloomberg that Pakistan followed the One-China policy and had allowed only mainland Chinese airlines to use its airspace.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the restrictions on Wednesday, accusing Pakistan of adopting Beijing’s position and using airspace access as leverage.
Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi told AFP on Thursday that Pakistan had closed and subsequently reopened its airspace to Taiwanese airlines. He also said Taipei suspected China had been behind the move.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, while Taiwan rejects Beijing’s claim.
EVA Air declined to comment, while China Airlines had not immediately responded to Bloomberg’s request for comment.