NEW DELHI: Air India and western airlines flying to India have started avoiding overflying Iran due to the looming threat of escalating tension in the region — increasing flying time between India and the west by about an hour. US President Joe Biden has said he expects Iran to attack Israel “sooner than later.” There are concerns that Iran could retaliate after its consulate in Syria was attacked recently.
Air India’s Delhi-Tel Aviv flight operated on Saturday and the airline is watching the station closely to decide in real time on whether to continue the four times weekly flight. AI had suspended the Delhi-Tel Aviv flight after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. It resumed the same on March 3, 2024, after a gap of almost five months. Now depending on the situation in the region, AI will take a call on this sector, say sources.
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 the west and its main base Delhi. The same flight a day earlier had overflown Iran.
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.
The alternate routes have not added significantly to flying time of AI as it has the option of overflying Russian airspace. Saturday’s Delhi-London flight will take almost nine hours, same as the timing for earlier routes.
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.
Air India’s Delhi-Tel Aviv flight operated on Saturday and the airline is watching the station closely to decide in real time on whether to continue the four times weekly flight. AI had suspended the Delhi-Tel Aviv flight after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. It resumed the same on March 3, 2024, after a gap of almost five months. Now depending on the situation in the region, AI will take a call on this sector, say sources.
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 the west and its main base Delhi. The same flight a day earlier had overflown Iran.
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.
The alternate routes have not added significantly to flying time of AI as it has the option of overflying Russian airspace. Saturday’s Delhi-London flight will take almost nine hours, same as the timing for earlier routes.
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.