On October 23, the inaugural Srinagar-Sharjah flight, operated by Go First, was flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah from the Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah termed Pakistan's decision to disallow the usage of its airspace for the Srinagar-Sharjah flights as "unfortunate".

Taking to Twitter, he said, "Very unfortunate. Pakistan did the same thing with the Air India Express flight from Srinagar to Dubai in 2009-2010. I had hoped that @GoFirstairways being permitted to overfly Pak airspace was indicative of a thaw in relations but alas that wasn't to be."

On October 23, the inaugural Srinagar-Sharjah flight, operated by Go First, was flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah from the Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport. The flight revived direct air links between the Kashmir Valley and the United Arab Emirates after 11 years.