Afghanistan has lost 7 million US dollars as transit flights have declined due to closure of Pakistan airspace last month, officials said Saturday.
Afghanistan loses millions of dollars due to Pakistan airspace closure
خبرگزاری Herat Afghan Voice Agency(AVA) , 23 Mar 2019 - 20:23
Afghanistan has lost 7 million US dollars as transit flights have declined due to closure of Pakistan airspace last month, officials said Saturday.
AVA- Prior to the closure, between 400 and 500 aircraft used to cross Afghanistan airspace daily, but now the number has decline to 20 to 30.
For each flight, Afghanistan gets $500.
Qasim Wafayee Zada, head of Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority, said that the government is losing $200,000-$300,000 every day due to closure of Pakistan airspace closure.
Pakistan closed its airspace late last month amid tensions and military activity with India.
The closure has also led to decline of air cargo trade between Afghanistan and India.
Price of air tickets for Afghanistan-India flights has doubled as they are now happening Iran route, which is longer than Pakistan route.
Munir Ilyad, CEO of Arian Airlines, said that it takes 11 hours for each Afghanistan-India round trip.
Story Code: 181944