Taiwan’s airlines cleared to fly over Pakistan until March 27, 2027

ISLAMABAD — Taiwan’s two big carriers, China Airlines and EVA Air, have been granted permission to use Pakistan’s airspace from October 28, 2026 until March 27, 2027. According to documents seen by Dawn, both airlines are cleared to operate over the country for that period — news that landed on the same day reports of a ban on Taiwanese carriers had been circulating since the morning.

Two different stories in a single day

The day had begun with a very different headline. Bloomberg reported that Pakistan had shut its airspace to Taiwanese airlines in support of Beijing’s One-China policy, describing the move as the first of its kind by any country. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg that the aviation division followed the One-China policy and that only mainland Chinese airlines were permitted. Dawn later updated its story in light of more recent information, citing the permission documents. No detailed public explanation for the shift has emerged.

Why the routes had changed

Flight-tracking data showed that China Airlines and EVA Air aircraft had stopped crossing Pakistan from the morning of October 25, and at least a dozen Asia–Europe flights had taken Russian airspace instead since Sunday. Neither airline commented on the matter, and Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration said nothing about the rerouting either, though it noted it had never barred its carriers from flying over Russia. There is a wrinkle here worth noting: Taiwanese airlines had in fact been avoiding Russian airspace since February 2022, even though no formal ban on it ever existed.

What sits behind the decision

Pakistan cut official ties with Taiwan in 1951 and has backed Beijing’s position ever since, including opposing Taiwan’s participation in international organisations. China is Pakistan’s largest weapons supplier, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has only deepened the relationship. But one detail stood out in the day’s reporting: China itself allows Taiwanese airlines to fly over its own territory, so the ban reported in the morning would have been stricter than Beijing’s own practice. The permission documents now give airlines and passengers a clear route for the next five months — while leaving open the question of what changed so quickly between the ban report and the clearance.