Iran airspace closure hits Indian airlines

Air India and IndiGo dodged Iranian airspace Thursday, show flight tracking websites, instead opting for routes over Afghanistan and a thin strip over the eastern side of Iran near the Iraq border, to mitigate risks associated with the geopolitical turmoil in Iran and the Middle East.Iran closed and then reopened its airspace Wednesday amid concerns about possible military action between the US and Iran. This forced airlines to cancel, reroute or delay flights.Air India cancelled some flights to and from the US. IndiGo, cancelled its flight to Baku, Azerbaijan.People aware of the development said from Friday, IndiGo may do a fuel stop at Doha for its flights to Central Asia like Almaty and Baku since they will be taking a longer route. 126551772 While some domestic flights resumed flying over Iran when it opened the airspace after five hours, global airlines like Lufthansa and British Airways are avoiding the route.Airlines usually try to avoid overflying active conflict zones and high-risk regions. In 2020, Iran's air defences shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight shortly after it took off in Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.No Indian airlines operate flights to Iran, but their operations to the US, Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region are expected to be impacted as these routinely use the Iranian airspace.With Pakistan's airspace already closed for Indian aircraft, problems could compound for India's major international carriers on flight operations to certain geographies if Iranian airspace is disrupted frequently or deemed unsafe.Air India and IndiGo said early Thursday that some of their flights were impacted by the situation in Iran."Due to the emerging situation in Iran, the subsequent closure of its airspace, and in view of the safety of our passengers, Air India flights overflying the region are now using an alternative routing, which may lead to delays. Some Air India flights where currently rerouting is not possible are being cancelled," Air India said in a passenger advisory.IndiGo said some of our international flights were impacted. "Our teams are working diligently to assess the situation and support affected customers by offering the best possible alternatives," it said.Continuing geopolitical risks are now a major strategic challenge for airlines, resulting in longer detours and higher costs, said Kapil Kaul, chief executive of South Asia at aviation consultancy CAPA."Indian carriers have to deal with Pakistan airspace closure, which is likely to continue, and now Iran airspace," he said. "I remain concerned about the long haul and ultra-long-haul viability given the airspace closures including Pakistan airspace," Kaul said.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/DskrnfN