Why are commercial flights staying away from Afghanistan?

As the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, many commercial aircraft have been keeping away from Afghan airspace. According to experts, it remains unclear when commercial airline operations will resume. However, international airlines might get to see themselves flying over Afghanistan sooner.

Major airlines such as United Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, on Monday, changed the course of their flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace. The Chicago-Delhi Air India flight also diverted because the airspace was reportedly “open but uncontrolled by Air Traffic Control (ATC)”.

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Former director of flight safety for Indian Airlines, Captain SS Panesar, told India Today, “At the moment, the situation on ground is very fluid due to uncertainties. It is not clear how many people are working at the Kabul ATC and are there any radar experts working on not. I think it would be advisable to wait for 2-3 days before there is more clarity.”

“Maximum time for Indian commercial aircraft flying over Afghanistan is not more than 20-30 minutes and it will depend on neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia if they provide airspace to the Indian commercial aircraft,” Panesar added.

The Afghanistan air routes are more often than not used to shorten the distance between Asian and European countries.

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The US Federal Aviation Administration had imposed restrictions on flights operating below 26,000 feet, earlier in July. The restrictions were later also imposed by Canada, Britain, Germany and France, urging airlines to fly at an altitude of 25,000 feet at least.

“Overflying Afghanistan may not be that risky for flights coming from, let’s say England to India. They can deviate a little bit to Tehran and come back, but the question is who is going to give the permission to the overhead flight for the safety and security of these flights unless there is a steady government,” SS Panesar said.