Singapore Airlines, British Airways, and Lufthansa boosted flights over Afghanistan after years of avoiding, as the Middle East conflict made it a relatively safe option, Reuters reported.
Air carriers largely stopped transiting Afghanistan, a major route between Asia and Europe, three years ago when the Taliban came to power and shut down air traffic control services. Ian Petchenik, a spokesperson for flight tracking organisation Flightradar24, stated:
As conflicts have evolved, the calculus of which airspace to use has changed. Airlines are seeking to mitigate risk as much as possible and they see overflying Afghanistan as the safer option given the current tensions between Iran and Israel.
According to an analysis of FlightRadar24 data, the number of flights over Afghanistan increased more than seven times in the second week of August compared to the same period last year. The shift began in mid-April during retaliatory missile and drone attacks between Iran and Israel.
However, the main surge came after the assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah members in late July raised concerns of a major escalation. Otjan de Bruin, a commercial pilot and head of the European Cockpit Association, expressed a common fear among pilots operating in the region.
You’re depending on the analysis of your airline. Every time I fly out there, I don’t like the feeling of flying over a conflict area where you don’t know, actually, what is happening. It’s always safe enough, until proven otherwise.
Relatively safe
In early July, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that aircraft could fly at lower altitudes over the Wakhan Corridor, northeastern Afghanistan. The corridor is used to cross the border between Tajikistan and Pakistan, opening the route to more flight options.
A year earlier, the FAA lifted a ban on overflights over the entire country but said aircraft must remain above 32,000 feet (9753.6 metres), where surface-to-air weapons are considered less effective. In the absence of air traffic control, pilots crossing Afghanistan communicate with neighbouring aircraft by radio, according to a protocol developed by the UN aviation body ICAO and Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.
Airlines are under pressure to save money after losing many shorter routes through Russian airspace from 2022 and as they recover from the pandemic. If an airline cannot operate via Russia, Ukraine, or Iran, central Afghanistan offers a more direct route to South Asia from Europe.
This route saved us a fair chunk of time and fuel.
