Data shows airlines diverted more flights in the past week over Afghanistan to avoid Iranian airspace. This has increased journey times and fuel cost in the latest disruption of routes between Asia & Europe as tensions in Middle East escalate.
FlightRadar24’s data shows that flight over Afghanistan has increased in recent weeks. This trend was accelerated by the Israeli response to a ballistic missile attack against Israel by Iran last week.
EASA warned airlines last week to avoid Iranian airspace.
FlightRadar24 reported 132 overflights in Afghanistan on September 29, 2009. On October 2, one day after Iran’s attack on Israel, the number increased to 176. On October 6, the number of daily flights steadily increased to 222. Taliban officials claimed that the number of overflights was even higher than FlightRadar24’s data in recent days.
“Specifically, in the last five or six days there have been around 350 transit flights per 24 hours, compared with about 100 transit flights (as of a year ago),” said Imamudden Ahmadi. He is the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Transportation and Aviation.
Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Lufthansa increased flights over Afghanistan due to the Middle East conflict making it seem safer. Air traffic control services ceased three years ago, after the Taliban took over. Airlines now see Afghan airspace less risky than flying from Iran to Israel due recent tensions.
FlightRadar24 reported on Tuesday that British Airways and Singapore Airlines were using the airspace of Afghanistan. The data didn’t show a breakdown on which airlines used Afghan airspace most in the last seven days. British Airways and Singapore Airlines failed to respond immediately to a Reuters inquiry for comment.
Many airlines had begun routing through Iran after Russian and Ukrainian airspace was closed to Western carriers as the Ukraine war began. The new rerouting demonstrates the difficult calculations airlines are forced into as the safety of airspace across the Middle East grows more precarious, and fears of regional wars rise a year following the start of Israel-Hamas’ war.
Mark Zee, founder of the flight-risk sharing organization OPSGROUP, said that the number of flights to Afghanistan has increased.
Since the Taliban’s takeover three years ago, airlines have had to rely on regulators for air traffic control.
Zee said:
“I expect this avoidance of Iran and possibly Iraq to continue for at least several weeks, until Israel makes a decision or the situation calms down.”
