Malaysia Airlines to avoid Iranian airspace
The rising tension between Iran and the United States has forced commercial airlines to either divert their flights or avoid flying over the conflict area.
Malaysia Airlines had said earlier it would avoid flying over Iranian airspace.
“Due to recent events involving Iran, Malaysia Airlines will avoid the conflict airspace,” it said in a statement yesterday.
The airline, however, said it does not fly over the airspace of Iraq to and from London, Jeddah and Medina, in addressing concerns among passengers.
“The airline performs active monitoring through its Flight Monitoring System and is guided by various assessments, including global security reports and NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) by airspace control authorities.
“All our aircraft are equipped with satellite communication for immediate communication with the aircraft for any critical information and action, such as reroutes.
“Safety is of utmost importance to Malaysia Airlines,” the statement read.
AirAsia had confirmed that it had no flight routes over the affected airspace or the conflict zones of Iraq and Iran.
“Safety is of paramount importance to AirAsia. We continue to monitor the developments in the conflict area,” it said in a statement.
Such measures, an aviation expert said, were necessary to ensure that the safety of crew and passengers was not compromised.
Captain (Rtd) Abdul Rahmat Omar said the main reasons for such a move were security and safety, or if there was an airspace closure by any country where the route passes.
He added that airlines were free to decide on their routes as long as the local civil aviation authorities of the countries the airline planned to fly over were informed through the submission of flight plans.
“It (diverting route) may mean a slightly longer flight time and higher cost of operations due to more fuel burnt.
“This in turn will involve flights and crew scheduling as aircrew have cumulative flight time limits, as well as aircraft maintenance schedules and support,” he told the