Bad weather forces IndiGo Ahmedabad flight into Pakistan for 30 minutes

AHMEDABAD/AMRITSAR: An Ahmedabad-bound IndiGo flight that took off from Punjab's Amritsar at 7.45pm Saturday was forced to deviate from its flight path over the Atari border and enter Pakistan airspace for around 30 minutes to skirt bad weather, the airline said on Sunday.
Flight 6E-645's foray into Pakistan airspace was "well-coordinated" by Amritsar air traffic control with Lahore, IndiGo said. "The crew was in continuous contact with Pakistan (ATC) and the flight landed in Ahmedabad safely."

The Airbus A320neo flew till Gujranwala, almost 100km from Lahore, before returning to Indian airspace safely. Media reports in Pakistan, citing flight radar data, said the aircraft entered north of Lahore around 7.30pm on Saturday and returned to India at 8.01pm.
Strayed flight landed safely at SVPI
Pilots are trained to make prompt decisions, based on prevailing weather conditions, particularly during monsoon or peak winters," an official at Amritsar airport said.
The flight landed safely at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad, at 9.45pm ahead of its scheduled arrival time of 10.05pm. Well-placed sources at the SVPI airport confirmed the incident and said that the passengers landed safely without any untoward incident. "Such incidents take place in case of bad weather conditions. It is not unusual and is permissible under the international aviation protocols," said a source privy to the development.
It isn't uncommon for aircraft from Pakistan and India to enter each other's airspace to combat adverse weather. Such diversions are handled through ATC coordination on either side. On May 4, Pakistan International Airlines' Muscat-Lahore flight PK 248 was unable to land at its destination in heavy rain. The Boeing 777 was diverted to Multan en route through Indian airspace.
Indian flights to and from the West overfly Pakistan and airports in the country are "designated diversion airfields" in the event of an aircraft being forced to change course due to technical and other reasons. There have been several instances of Indian carriers diverting to Karachi. What Pakistan doesn't permit are international flights between J&K and the West to overfly its airspace. Whether it was erstwhile Go Air's international flights between Srinagar and the UAE or the Haj charter currently being operated by SpiceJet from Srinagar, these flights are not cleared to overly Pakistan. They have to take a much longer route through Gujarat and then over the Arabian Sea without overflying Karachi airspace.