Long-haul passengers flying between Asia and Europe on Taiwanese carriers face longer hours in the sky, altered transit corridors, and the looming prospect of steeper airfares following Pakistan’s decision to shut its skies to Taiwan’s commercial airlines.
The move, confirmed by Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in adherence to Beijing’s One-China principle, makes Pakistan the first country in the world to enforce a blanket airspace prohibition specifically targeting Taiwanese commercial carriers.
Longer flight times and disrupted Asia-Europe routes
For passengers, the most tangible impact of the closure is added time in the air. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 shows that Taiwan’s two primary international airlines—China Airlines Ltd and EVA Airways Corp—abruptly halted all flights through Pakistani airspace on the morning of Sunday, October 25. Just 24 hours prior, on October 24, the two carriers had operated 14 flights across the Pakistani corridor.
The loss of this direct transit path affects crucial long-haul trunk routes connecting Taipei with key European destinations, including China Airlines’ flights to Rome and EVA Air’s services to London. To bypass Pakistani territory, airlines have been forced to divert aircraft across alternative pathways spanning other parts of South Asia, the Middle East, and Russia. These detours add hundreds of nautical miles to flight paths, translating to longer flight durations and delayed arrivals.
The detour through Russian skies
The operational pivot has also led to a return to Russian airspace. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Taiwanese airlines have largely avoided Russian skies, aligning informally with Asian, European, and North American carriers over safety concerns and active missile-threat environments.
Although Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration clarified that it had never instituted a formal regulatory ban preventing domestic airlines from utilising Russian airspace, carriers had steered clear of it voluntarily. Following Islamabad’s restrictions, Flightradar24 data revealed that at least 12 flights operated by China Airlines and EVA Air between Asia and Europe have traversed Russian airspace to maintain viable flight corridors, illustrating how geopolitical pressures in South Asia are reshaping flight trajectories across the continent.
Rising fuel burn and the risk of costlier fares
For flyers, longer journeys are likely to come with a financial penalty. Diverted flight paths force aircraft to consume significantly more aviation turbine fuel, compounding operational strains at a time when global benchmark crude oil prices are hovering above $115 a barrel.
Airlines face compounding financial burdens from higher fuel burn, increased aircraft wear, and extended crew duty requirements. The carriers might eventually pass the overheads on to consumers through higher base fares and rising fuel surcharges on affected long-haul sectors.
Is such a ban legal?
Pakistan’s action falls within the boundaries of international air law. Under Article 1 of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention), every state exercises complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace directly above its land territory and territorial waters.
Under global aviation rules governed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), scheduled commercial airlines do not hold an automatic right of transit over foreign sovereign territory without prior authorisation or established bilateral air service agreements. Sovereign states retain the legal prerogative to restrict, regulate, or entirely prohibit foreign aircraft from entering designated airspace based on national security, political positions, or diplomatic alignment.
Earlier airspace disputes involving Taiwan were confined to official visits. In April 2026, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar revoked overflight clearances for Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s aircraft during a planned trip to Eswatini, forcing the state visit to be postponed. In contrast, Pakistan’s blanket prohibition halts passenger services carrying ordinary citizens.
The restriction is also more stringent than the regulations enforced by mainland China itself, which continues to permit Taiwanese commercial airlines to operate within and overfly Chinese airspace.
The One-China policy
The airspace shutdown represents a sharp escalation of Pakistan’s diplomatic commitment to Beijing. Islamabad severed formal diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1951 to recognise the People’s Republic of China (PRC), evolving over seven decades into what both nations describe as an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership”. Beijing remains Pakistan’s principal defence supplier and largest bilateral creditor—with Islamabad owing over $25 billion—bolstered by substantial infrastructure funding under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The restriction directly reflects Beijing’s One-China principle, which asserts that there is only one China, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and that the PRC government in Beijing is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China. Beijing roots this de jure claim in historical instruments including the 1943 Cairo Declaration, the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation, and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 adopted in October 1971, which recognised PRC representatives as the only legitimate delegates to the UN. Today, more than 180 countries maintain diplomatic ties with Beijing under this framework, while only 12 nations retain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
What travellers should do next
With the duration of the restriction unspecified and no formal regulatory timeline issued by Pakistani authorities, the operational hurdles for Taiwanese carriers appear set to continue.
Passengers currently holding tickets or planning travel between Asia and Europe on China Airlines or EVA Air should take immediate precautions:
– Monitor itineraries: Check flight statuses frequently, as departure and arrival times may be rescheduled to accommodate lengthened routes. – Review transit connections: Ensure secondary flight bookings at European or Asian connecting hubs allow for comfortable layovers, mitigating the risk of missed connections caused by air-traffic delays.
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Pakistan shuts airspace to Taiwanese airlines: What the unprecedented ban means for travellers
