Airlines scramble to reroute as Israel-Iran tensions rise

As with other international airlines, Indian carriers are also rerouting or cancelling their flights in response to the escalating tension between Israel and Iran .

On Sunday, Air India announced temporary suspension of its flights to Tel Aviv. The airline had four weekly flight between Delhi and Tel Aviv, an official of the airline informed. This comes little over a month since the carrier resumed its operations to Tel Aviv  after a gap of five months. In the wake of the Hamas attack on the Israeli city, Air India had stopped its service to Tel Aviv from October 7, last year and resumed it last month, on March 3.

On Saturday, the airline had declared, “Our aircraft will operate on alternative flight paths to and from India, according top priority to the of our passengers and crew.”

Likewise, the other Tata Group-owned airline, Vistara talked of rerouting its flight. A Vistara spokesperson explained, “Due to the current situation affecting parts of the Middle East, we are making changes to flight-paths of some of our flights. Contingency routes, which are kept available to ensure operational continuity during such eventualities, are being used instead. This may result in longer flight times on certain routes and associated delays. The situation is being monitored closely and further changes will be made if required.” Vistara operates flights from Delhi and Mumbai to London, Frankfurt and Paris.

The country’s most popular airline – IndiGo – too has stopped flying over Iran en route to Istanbul, taking an alternative route instead. 

While no one wants to go on record on this, indications are that the route changes will not only extend the flying time but will soon cost the passengers much more in terms of airfares. Particularly impacted will be flights to Europe.

As mentioned, international airlines globally have taken cognisance of the situation. Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines have also suspended flight to and from the Iranian capital – Tehran. Qantas Airways has temporarily re-routed its services.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its budget arm Scoot have stopped flying over Iranian airspace after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory on April 13. Both the carriers have been using alternative flight paths since Saturday.

Bloomberg reported that several Middle Eastern countries including Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon temporarily closed their airspace as Iran launched drones and missiles. Both Israel and Iran also imposed restrictions on airline traffic over theirs.

A number of airlines are rerouting or avoiding trouble spots in a series of decisions that will prolong flight times and add to fuel costs. Qantas had temporarily adjusted its direct Perth-London flights to stop over in Singapore to account for the extra fuel needed to re-route around the volatile region.

Singapore Air said that its flights were not overflying Iranian airspace. Cathay Pacific Ltd. is watching the situation in the Middle East closely, but its operations remain normal, a spokesman said in a text message Sunday.