Major airlines cancelled Iran and Iraq flights yesterday and re-routed others away from both countries’ airspace following an Iranian missile strike on US-led forces in Iraq.
Germany’s Lufthansa, Dubai-based Emirates and low-cost flydubai were among airlines that cancelled flights, as the US Federal Aviation Administration barred American carriers from the area. But several other carriers continued operations over the affected airspace.
Iran early yesterday fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles from its territory targeting at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US-led coalition personnel, the US military said.
Within hours, the FAA barred US carriers from airspace over Iran, the Gulf of Oman and the waters between Iran and Saudi Arabia, citing “heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the Middle East, which present an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations”.
The flight ban came shortly before a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 burst into flames shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard in a crash,
Non-US operators are not bound by the FAA decision, but they and other regulators consider its advice carefully when determining where to fly. Later in the day, the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) recommended to national authorities that European carriers avoid Iraqi airspace.
Airlines have taken more steps to avoid flying over conflict zones since 2014, when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was downed by a missile launched from Ukraine, killing 298 people.
But re-routing increases flight times and burns extra fuel.
Australia’s Qantas Airways said it would add 50 minutes to its Perth-London flight time and cut passenger numbers to carry more fuel as it re-routes around Iran and Iraq.
The FAA had already prohibited US carriers from Iranian airspace and from flying below 26,000 feet over Iraq, after Iran shot down a high-altitude US drone last June.
Lufthansa dropped its next scheduled flights to Erbil in northern Iraq and to Tehran but said services to the Iranian capital would resume today, although overflights will continue to be re-routed to avoid both countries’ airspace.
Air France-KLM, which axed its Tehran service in 2018, said it was also suspending Air France flights through Iranian and Iraqi airspace “as a precautionary measure”.
British Airways said a small number of its flights would be affected by re-routing, without elaborating. Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines Ltd, Malaysia Airlines, Air Canada and Taiwan’s China Airlines were also among carriers that re-routed flights.
“As a result, flight times to and from Mumbai may be slightly longer than expected,” a Virgin spokeswoman said.
Other major airlines maintained flights over Iraq and Iran but said they were actively monitoring the situation. While Emirates and flydubai each cancelled a return flight to Baghdad, Qatar Airways said its flights to Iraq were operating normally.