Pakistan reopens airspace for some flights amid India tensions but other restrictions to remain

The move has caused significant disruption to travellers

Pakistan says it is reopening its airspace for commercial flights to four major cities, but that all other restrictions will remain in place until 4 March.

The country's civil aviation agency said all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. The airspace above major eastern cities like Lahore, near the border with India, will remain closed.

Pakistan closed its airspace entirely to commercial flights after an aerial engagement between its air force and India over Kashmir, in which one fighter jet from each country was shot down.

The move has caused significant disruption to travellers, with dozens of flights cancelled and flight paths across Asia rerouted to avoid the country.

Though some northern Indian airports were briefly closed on Wednesday, India's airspace has otherwise remained open throughout the crisis, which began with the deadly bombing of an Indian army convoy on 14 February.

India responded to the Valentine's Day attack by conducting airstrikes on what it described as a training camp belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group. Pakistan-based JeM had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Pulwama, Kashmir, though it was carried out by a young Kashmiri man.

Tensions reached a peak on Wednesday when Pakistan responded by sending its air force to target - though not fire on - Indian military outposts in Kashmir. India scrambled its own jets, leading to the dogfight in which the aircraft were shot down.

The reopening of airspace was seen as a further seen of reducing tensions, after Pakistan also promised to return a captured Indian fighter pilot on Friday afternoon.

And while India has talked down tensions and welcomed the return of the pilot, its government says it reserves the right to repeat strikes on militant targets within Pakistan if it is believed that an attack is imminent.

Earlier on Friday, at least 2,000 travellers were still stranded in the Thai capital Bangkok, and officials said it would take a few more days to get them home after the disruption.

Nearly 5,000 passengers - most of them flying on Thai Airways and Taiwan's EVA Airways - scrambled to find alternative flights from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday.

Thailand is among the world's most popular tourist destinations, drawing more than 38 million visitors last year, about 6.8 million of them from Europe.

Rival carriers like Singapore Airlines re-routed their European flights to avoid the affected airspace, but Thai Airways did not have routes over Iranian or Turkish airspace, a spokesman said.

Thailand's national carrier eventually gained permission from China to use its airspace and resumed flights to Europe on Thursday evening.

Additional reporting by Reuters