Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Airlines that fly to, from, and through the regions impacted by the US-Israeli strikes against Iran are now steering clear of the same and trying to find ways to evacuate their crew from there. Going ahead, flights between the west and India, among other places in the east, will now get longer and fuelling stops are likely for North America routes.When the combat operation in Iran began, hundreds of commercial flights were either overflying or just about to enter the impacted airspaces from Iran to Israel. Among them was Air India’s Delhi-Tel Aviv flight (AI 139) which was in Saudi airspace at that time. The airline asked the pilots to turn back & head to Mumbai. AI’s Chicago-Delhi flight (AI 126) was about to enter Iraq airspace and it instead turned towards Syria to take a longer route home. AI is now working to evacuate its crew from Tel Aviv.
“AI139 operating from Delhi to Tel Aviv on Feb 28 is air returning to Mumbai due to closure of air space in Israel and in the interest of safety of passengers and crew. Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen situation and remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety. We will continue to assess the safety and security environment for our flight operations and adjust operations proactively as needed,” an Air India spokesperson said.People in the know say AI had stopped overflying Iraq on its night flights to and from Europe from Friday night itself. The US flights used to overfly Iraq during the day and now that is stopped too. AI’s North America flights could now take a fuelling halt in Vienna or Rome. IndiGo is also working on the impact on its flights.For Indian carriers, the entire airspace to the west from Pakistan till Iraq is a no-go area which will impact all the flights to and from Europe, UK and North America. IndiGo’s CIS flights will be impacted.AI’s request to use Hotan waypoint in northwestern China has not yet been cleared. If allowed to take that route via high mountainous ranges, AI believes it can get a way out of Pakistan airspace for good for its flights to & from Europe/UK/North America.
