Israel-Iran war: Air India avoids Iranian airspace, suspends flights to Israel; Check out how will it impact airlines

Air India has temporarily halted its flights to Tel Aviv due to the escalating tensions in the Middle East, and other airlines have planned their routes to avoid Iranian airspace. The carriers will incur greater operating costs as a result of longer flight paths, and this could lead to a rise in airfare.

Opting alternative routes

According to a senior wide-body aircraft pilot, some international airlines, like Air India, Vistara, and IndiGo, have chosen to take alternate routes for their flights to the West to avoid Iranian airspace. There are four weekly flights by Air India connecting the Israeli city and the nation's capital. It was only recently that, after a five-month break, the airline owned by the Tata Group started operating out of Tel Aviv on March 3.

Instances of opting for the alternatives

Air India AI 161, which departed from Delhi at 4.30 am on Saturday, chose a different path to London rather than passing over Iran. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner chose to travel north rather than the typical route to Europe, which is the India-Pakistan-Iran-Turkey-Black Sea. The airline has this option because AI is still able to fly over Russia. A day prior, Iran had been overflown by the same aircraft.

On Friday, a Lufthansa aircraft from Greece to Mumbai traveled via the Greece-Mediterranean Sea-Saudi Arabia-Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea route. It used to travel to Mumbai via the Black Sea-Iran-Pakistan route.