Greg Raiff, an aviation consultant in New Hampshire, said that if airlines must avoid flying over all the world's hot spots, flight times would be extended, requiring extra fuel and pilots. Emirates suspended flights to Peshawar, and other carriers canceled some flights while they reviewed airport security. Last month, a gunman in Pakistan fired on a jetliner that was landing in Peshawar, part of the country's volatile northwest region, killing a passenger and wounding two other people. Gulf-based carrier Emirates stopped flying over parts of Syria as a civil war there expanded.
Some of the other places that the FAA also currently warns pilots to avoid parts of include Iran, Yemen, the Sinai peninsula and North Korea. "There are airlines flying through Afghanistan's air space every day," Routh said. Thomas Routh, an aviation attorney in Chicago, said it was up to airlines and pilots to decide whether a flight will be safe for crew and passengers. Read More Stocks end sharply lower amid geopolitical unrest Airline stocks such as Lufthansa dipped in early trading in Europe Friday, Reuters reported, as major travel companies rerouted flights to avoid Ukraine. Carriers may even be forced to reconsider many international routes.
Longer routings mean longer flights for passengers and higher fuel bills for airlines. In part, they have no choice because Ukraine quickly closed all air space over its eastern zone after news of MH17 broke. "Eurocontrol is the air navigation service provider for Europe and is governed under ICAO rules."Īirlines have rushed to assure passengers they are rerouting flights between Europe and Asia to avoid Ukraine entirely. "MH17's flight plan was approved by Eurocontrol, who are solely responsible for determining civil aircraft flight paths over European air space," the Malaysia Airlines statement said. Read More Crashed plane was flying in open air space However, upon entering Ukrainian air space, MH17 was instructed by Ukrainian air traffic controllers to fly at 33,000ft. The pilots of MH17 filed a flight plan asking to fly at 35,000 feet throughout Ukrainian air space, the airline said in a statement Friday. Similar notices were issued by other countries.Īnother NOTAM was issued on Tuesday prohibiting flights in an expanded area close to where MH17 crashed-but crucially it only applied to operations between 26,000 feet and 32,000 feet. "This action was taken due to the unilateral and illegal action by Russia to assert control over Crimean air space, including international air space administered by Ukraine, without agreement by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)," the FAA said in a statement. It didn't cover the air space where MH17 crashed. carriers from flying over the Crimean region and portions adjacent to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. On April 23, the FAA issued a Notice to Airman (NOTAM) prohibiting U.S. Read More Live blog: US says Russian separatists hit MH17 Korean Air said it had rerouted cargo and passenger flights in early March amid the worsening situation over the Crimean peninsula. Australia's Qantas stopped flying over Ukraine several months ago and shifted its London-Dubai route 400 miles to the south. "European airlines also use the same route, and traverse the same air space."Īirlines can choose to avoid these areas. "Fifteen out of 16 airlines in the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines fly this route over Ukraine," Malaysia's transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said Friday. MH17 was flying at 33,000 feet when disaster struck-well above the trajectory of missiles commonly used by militias in ground conflict, and high enough that its routing was approved by the airline's flight planners, air traffic controllers and ultimately the pilots.īritish Airways, Air France, Lufthansa and KLM are among the airlines to have used exactly the same routing over eastern Ukraine in recent days, according to website FlightRadar24. More from NBC News: AIDS Experts' death in Malaysian Air disaster 'great loss' for research 'Significant expansion' of Gaza ground operation looms Hundreds flee as wildfire rages through small town
They were no different from any other international airline." "They chose the most direct and economic flight route possible, which keeps their fuel costs down and is something we expect as customers. "This was a very commonly used route and passenger jets fly at high altitudes over many of the world's hotspots all the time," said Norman Shanks, professor of aviation security at Britain's Coventry University.
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Aviation regulators-including the FAA-had issued a series of notices to pilots in recent weeks prohibiting air space very close to the crash site.