NEW DELHI: Just over three hours into Lufthansa‘s Frankfurt-Mumbai flight on Tuesday, there was a sudden buzz onboard the Airbus A340 while it was in Turkish airspace. Half-sleepy post-lunch, passengers watching the live route map realised the aircraft had turned back and was again heading towards the Black Sea, which it had crossed not so long back.
The mystery was solved in a few minutes when the pilot announced that the Iran-Israel conflict had led to Iranian airspace being shut for commercial airliners and that they had no option but to return to Frankfurt, recalled Mumbai-based Lovaii Navlakhi and his wife Arwa, who were on this flight.
Around the same time, Iran’s missile attack had led to several other flights like Lufthansa’s Frankfurt-Hyderabad and Air France’s Paris-Mumbai returning to their origin as airspaces of countries on the way, like Jordan and Iran, were closed.
The Mumbai-bound LH 756 was about half an hour away from entering Iranian airspace when it turned back. “The pilot’s announcement was detailed and matter of fact. It said we need to return due to a situation that was beyond their control and for our safety. There was not much hue and cry in the aircraft. The crew said there would be ground staff at Frankfurt to make alternative travel and hotel arrangements. That an email with alternative flights should be in the inbox when we land,” Lovaii Navlakhi, who owns a wealth management company and was returning after a holiday in France, told TOI from Frankfurt on Wednesday.
The most concerned were passengers who were transiting via Frankfurt to return to India and did not have Schengen visas or those whose short-term Europe visas had either expired or were about to expire. “The crew said such passengers will need to stay at the airport. And that while beds would be provided at the airport in a separate area, they should take blankets and pillows from the aircraft on landing,” Lovaii added.
On return to Frankfurt almost seven hours after taking off from there, passengers lined up for their hotel and breakfast vouchers and to learn about alternative flights.
With Oct 2 being a holiday in India, some passengers allowed those in a hurry to fly on priority when Lufthansa began sending back people on other airlines, including Vistara. The Navlakhi couple were rebooked to fly back on Oct 3 via Munich to Mumbai.
“We have no reason to complain. The situation was handled well both by the airline and flyers,” Arwa said.