Airlines fly over Afghanistan as Middle East becomes the greater risk

EVA Airways

23/08/2024 06:09

(Repeats to more subscribers, no change in text)

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      Afghanistan is major route between Europe and southern
Asia 
    

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      Country has no air traffic control, surface-to-air weapon
risk
    

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      Regulatory change has been a factor
    

  
    By Joanna Plucinska and Lisa Barrington
       LONDON/SEOUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines,
British Airways  ICAG.L  and Lufthansa  LHAG.DE  have increased
their flights over Afghanistan after years of largely avoiding
it now the Middle East conflict has made it seem a relatively
safe option.
    The carriers mostly stopped transiting Afghanistan, which
lies on major routes between Asia and Europe, three years ago
when the Taliban took over and air traffic control services
stopped. 
    Those services have yet to resume, but airlines 
increasingly consider the skies between Iran and Israel are
riskier than Afghan airspace. Many had started routing through
Iran and the Middle East after Russian skies were closed to most
western carriers when the Ukraine war began in 2022.
    "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," Ian Petchenik, a spokesperson for flight tracking
organisation Flightradar24, said.
    There were more than seven times the number of flights over
Afghanistan in the second week of August than during the same
period a year ago, according to a Reuters analysis of
FlightRadar24 data.     
    The shift began in mid-April during reciprocal missile and
drone attacks between Iran and Israel. Flight tracking data from
the time shows Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, British Airways
and others began to send a few flights a day over Afghanistan.  
 
   But the main growth has been since the killing of senior
members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah in late July
raised concerns of a major escalation.
    Some pilots are concerned.
    "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," said Otjan de Bruin, a commercial pilot and head of
the European Cockpit Association. 
    "It's always safe enough, until proven otherwise."          
  
    Lufthansa Group told Reuters it decided to resume overflying
Afghan airspace from early July. 
    Other carriers that have increased overflights since April
include Turkish Airlines  THYAO.IS , Thai Airways  THAI.BK  and
the Air France-KLM  AIRF.PA  group, data shows.
    "Based on actual security information, KLM and other
airlines currently safely overfly Afghanistan only on specific
routes and only at high altitudes," KLM told Reuters. 
    British Airways, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and
Singapore Airlines did not respond to requests for comment. 
    Taiwan's EVA Air  2618.TW  began from late July, flight
tracking data shows. EVA told Reuters it chooses routes based on
safety, the current international situation and flight
advisories. 
        
    REGULATION'S ROLE
    The route changes have been facilitated by aviation
regulators easing guidance on Afghanistan.
    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in early July
said planes could fly at a lower altitude over a sliver of
north-eastern Afghanistan, the Wakhan Corridor, which is used to
cross from Tajikistan to Pakistan - opening that path to more
types of flights. 
    A year earlier, the FAA lifted its ban on overflights for
the entire country, but said planes must stay above 32,000 feet
(9,753.6 m) where surface-to-air weapons are considered less
effective. 
    But few started using Afghanistan until April.
    Although more traffic has been using the airspace without
incident, there is no guarantee of crew or passenger safety if a
plane has to land, flight safety group OPSGROUP said in July.
    In the absence of air traffic control, pilots crossing
Afghanistan talk to nearby planes over radio according to a
protocol drawn up by U.N. aviation body ICAO and Afghanistan's
Civil Aviation Authority. 
    European aviation safety regulator EASA said in a
conflict-zone information bulletin re-issued in July that
"extremist non-state actor groups remain active and might
sporadically target aviation facilities in multiple ways." 
    The industry is haunted by the memory of Malaysian Airlines
Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, which was shot down
over eastern Ukraine in 2014, as fighting raged between
pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces.
    
    COST AND LIMITED CHOICE
    Airlines are under pressure to save money after the loss
since 2022 of many shorter paths through Russian airspace, and
as they re-build from the pandemic.  
    There are few international rules that dictate which areas
of airspace are safe and airline safety decisions are left
largely to the discretion of individual carriers. 
    If an airline cannot fly through Russia, Ukraine or Iran,
central Afghanistan offers a more direct route into southern
Asia from Europe.
    "This route saved us a fair chunk of time and fuel,"
OPSGROUP reported from a pilot in July who flew from Amsterdam
to Kuala Lumpur across central Afghanistan.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Singapore Airlines flight path over Afghanistan and Iran    https://reut.rs/3yJnwvI
Afghanistan overflights of different airlines    https://reut.rs/4cF9Aka
Daily Afghanistan overflights    https://reut.rs/4dHbIck
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Joanna Plucinska in London and Lisa Barrington in
Seoul; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing
by Barbara Lewis)
 ((Joanna.Plucinska@thomsonreuters.com; 00447721669853; Reuters
Messaging: @joannaplucinska))