A series of long-range missile strikes launched by Russia against targets in Syria have raised concerns about the safety of commercial jets flying over Iran.
Earlier this month, Russia began launching cruise missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea, towards targets nearly 1,000 miles away.
Up to 800 flights a day could be affected if the route were to be deemed unsafe. In particular, north-south flights over Iran are hugely important to the big Gulf carriers, which use the route to connect to Europe and the US.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) said that it had been informed last week that some carriers had decided to take alternative routes, while the European Union’s aviation regulator said that it had issued a safety bulletin to its airlines.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific said it had diverted flights away from the area. Some carriers have already decided to send their aircraft over the safer airspace of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Any decision to direct aircraft over a different route would likely result in longer travel times and a larger cost in terms of the amount of fuel burnt.
In July last year, a series of international carriers, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, all suspended flights over Iraq due to the security threat from the civil war there.
The danger of flying over war zones was highlighted last year after a Malaysian Airlines jet came down in eastern Ukraine.
A Dutch-led investigation on Tuesday found that the aircraft had been shot down by a Russian-made Buk anti-aircraft missile. The crash resulted in the deaths of 298 people.
Follow us on
