“Safety of our passengers and crew members comes first. Iran’s spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said in a statement, “It has been decided to temporarily fly Air India (AI) and Air India Express (AIX) from Iran in view of tensions within Iranian airspace”.
The statement further said that the flight time for flights from Delhi can be increased by about 20 minutes and for flights from Mumbai by 30-40 minutes.
Several other commercial airlines have already halted flights crossing the Middle East to avoid a potential threat amid tensions between the United States and Iran.
Australian carrier Qantas said it was diverting its London to Perth routes to avoid Iran and Iraq airspace until further notice. The longer route meant that Qantas would have to carry fewer passengers and more fuel to remain in the air for 40 to 50 minutes.
Malaysia Airlines said that “due to recent events,” its aircraft would avoid Iranian airspace.
Singapore Airlines also said that its flights to Europe will be re-routed to avoid Iran.
The flight restrictions reflected fears that clashes between longtime enemies could strike two US bases at Iraqi targets following Iranian ballistic missile attacks. Those attacks retaliated for the US assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qasim Solimani in a drone strike near Baghdad last week.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said it is preventing US pilots and carriers from flying into Iraqi, Iranian and some Persian Gulf airspace. The agency warned of “miscalls or potential for possible detection” for civilian aircraft amid increasing tension between the US and Iran.
The Russian aviation agency, Rosavatsiya, also issued an official recommendation to all Russian airlines to avoid Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman “due to the current risks to the safety of international civilian flights”.
UAE-owned budget airline Flydubai said it had canceled a scheduled flight from Dubai to Baghdad on Wednesday, but flights to Basra and Najaf were continuing.
Emirates airline flights between Dubai and Baghdad were canceled. However, Qatar Airways said that its flights to Iraq were running as usual.
