Conflict zone: Air India and many foreign airlines now avoiding Iranian airspace | India…

NEW DELHI: Air India and several western airlines flying to India have started avoiding overflying Iran due to the looming threat of escalating tension in the region. 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 AI 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.
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.