With the closure of Iranian and Iraqi airspace since 13 June, flights that normally pass through either of those countries need new routes. As a consequence, overflights of Saudi Arabia have doubled over the past week while the number of flights over Afghanistan has increased by nearly 500 percent.
Overflights—those aircraft not departing or landing in given country—have risen above Saudi Arabia from an average of 700 flights per day in mid-May to 1,400 flights per day since the closure of Iranian and Iraqi airspace on 13 June.
Overflights of Afghanistan have risen from an average 50 per day in May to 280 per day since 13 June. The increase in traffic comes just as Kabul FIR issued a NOTAM informing flights of possible en route holding due to the need for aircraft spacing. Following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, air traffic service has been limited to non-existent within Afghanistan.
Which airlines are most affected?
It should come as no surprise that the two airlines most affected by the closure of airspace in Iran and Iraq are the two largest airlines in the Middle East. A vast majority of Qatar’s flights to Europe and North America usually pass over Iraq, while Emirates maintains a more equal distribution between Iraq and Iran. Flydubai’s loss of access to Iranian airspace has increased flight times for the airline as it must now route further east through Pakistan and Afghanistan to reach destinations north of Dubai. For example, the airline’s flights from Dubai to Moscow increased from about five hours to nearly seven.
Even before the most recent closure of Iran and Iraq, airlines have had limited options to fly between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The great circle route (or shortest path on the globe) between Europe and Asia generally routes through either Ukraine or Russia, airspace that is currently unavailable to all airlines (in the case of Ukraine) and all western airlines (in the case of Russia). This has squeezed most traffic into limited space over the Black Sea to the north and through Saudia Arabia to the south. Should the conflict between Iran and Israel expand and additional air routes close, the effects on commercial aviation could be profound.
12 Responses
How’s ATC coping in the overcrowded air spaces. Fatigued ATC staff and limited air space could lead to midair collisions
Yeah that is definely likely but…. what are the chances.
UAE and Bahrains airspace are also strained as lots of traffic is funneled through there. They route structure is not adapted to the contingency leaving some routes empty and others highly congested.
For those of us unable to see maps, it would be great to have a list of examples of some of the routes where flight times have increased the most. We could then get more info from the textual flight data and CSV downloads. Just to make things a little more accessible. Thanks.
Flying AKL/DXB/ARN tomorrow.
My thoughts also with Flight Planning Ops guys in the airlines most affected, who – like ATC personnel – must be under a lot of extraordinary stress atm.
What a mess..why is humanity so conflicted..all middle east ..the hate for each other..
Wenn es so weitergeht, werden Strecken mit Airbus A380 oder ähnlichen Gerät geflogen werden müssen. Denn einen weiteren Anstieg der stark frequentierten Strecken, wird nicht Hinzunehmen sein.
“Following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, air traffic service has been limited to non-existent within Afghanistan.” – what does this even mean? This sentence makes zero sense.
Hello, US military and contractors were providing air traffic services at local airfields as well as working with local counterparts for overflight surveillance. Following the American withdrawal and Taliban retaking power, air traffic service has been extremely limited in the country. At the moment, there is no ATS available in Afghanistan and safe separation is being maintained by sequencing overflights 15 minutes apart prior to their entry into the Kabul FIR.
Who controls Afghanistan air space and planes who pass through? Do the taliban have personnel who can do this?
There is currently no ATS service within the Kabul FIR.
Incroyable !!!