Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Conflict zone: Air India and many foreign airlines now avoiding Iranian airspace – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Your flying time to and from Europe and the UK will now increase by anywhere upto an hour, likely sending airfares up north too. Air India, Vistara and foreign airlines have started avoiding overflying Iranian airspace due to the looming threat of Iran attacking Israel, which US President Joe Biden expects may happen “sooner than later.”

Air India’s Delhi-Tel Aviv flight operated on Saturday and the airline is watching the station closely to decide in real time whether to continue the four times weekly flight, say sources. AI had suspended this route after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and had resumed the same on March 3.

Air India flight 161, for instance, that took off from Delhi at 4.30 am on Saturday did not overfly Iran and took an alternate route to London. Instead of the usual India-Pakistan-Iran-Turkey-Black Sea route to Europe, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner took a northern route. Thanks to AI still overflying Russia, this option is available to the airline for flights between Europe/UK and its main bases of Delhi and Mumbai. AI 161 on Friday had overflown Iran.

An AI spokesperson said: “We are closely monitoring the developing situation in the Middle East. Presently, our aircraft will operate on alternate flight paths to and from India- according top priority to the safety of our passengers and crew.”

Lufthansa’s flight to Mumbai on Friday took the Greece-Mediterranean Sea-Saudi Arabia-Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea route to Mumbai. Earlier it used to take the Black Sea-Iran-Pakistan route to Mumbai.

A Vistara spokesperson said: “Due to the current situation affecting parts of the Middle East, we are making changes to flight-paths of some of our flights. Contingency routes, which are kept available to ensure operational continuity during such eventualities, are being used instead. This may result in longer flight times on certain routes and associated delays. The situation is being monitored closely and further changes will be made if required.” Vistara operates between Delhi & Mumbai and London, Frankfurt & Paris.

The increased geopolitical tensions have added to the no fly zones for airlines. Commercial airliners avoid Afghanistan ever since the country was taken over by the Taliban; Russia’s war in Ukraine has made both the countries no overflying zones for most western airlines; US carriers have been avoiding Iran for some time now. The conflict zone lies on the crucial west-east route.

The difference these restrictions make are clear from Delhi-New York nonstops. AI, which overflies Russia, covers this distance in 14-15 hours while United — which does not overfly Russia and taken a longer route — takes 16-18 hours. US carriers have suspended some existing India routes and also deferred launch of some new ones.

AI 161 Delhi-London route on Saturday:

(Pic credit: tracking site Flightaware)


AI 161 Delhi-London route earlier

(Pic credit: tracking site Flightaware)

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