Iranian attack on Israel brings trouble for India's international flyers

Military tensions in West Asia have forced airlines to take longer routes to Europe, meaning costlier flight tickets.

In Short

• On October 2, Lufthansa cancelled its 2 flights from India to Germany
• Flights between India-Europe diverting routes to avoid Iran
• Flights making stopovers in Gulf, Arab countries having similar issues

Iran’s missile attack has disrupted the global civil aviation industry, forcing several airlines to divert their flights and later redraw flight paths to avoid the airspace of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Israel.

Some international flights passing over Iran were mid-flight when Iran began launching ballistic missiles at Israel on the night of 1 October, in retaliation for crippling Tehran-supported militias in the region.

According to flight tracking site Flightradar24, two flights of the German carrier Lufthansa – operating between Frankfurt and Mumbai & Hyderabad, LH756 and LH752 respectively – turned back from Turkish airspace before entering Iran during the missile attack. Polish airline LOT’s Warsaw-Mumbai flight and Air India’s London-Mumbai flight were also in Iranian airspace at the time of the attack.

While LOT’s flight LO75 was diverted to Baku airport in Azerbaijan, Air India’s flight AIC128 continued its journey to Mumbai.

On 2 October, Lufthansa cancelled its flights from Hyderabad to Frankfurt (LH753/01) and from Mumbai to Frankfurt (LH757/01) due to tensions in West Asia, according to flight tracking data.

“Passengers have been rerouted or accommodated,” Jeffrey James, Head of Lufthansa Group Communications - Asia Pacific, told news agency PTI.

Lufthansa operates around 65 weekly flights from Europe to India.

As tensions continue, airlines – particularly those operating between India and Europe – have redrawn their flight paths to avoid Iran and other countries where Iran-backed militia groups are active.

The situation is similar for flights making stopovers in Gulf and Arab countries. For instance, Qatar Airways’ Delhi-London & Delhi-Milan flights, and Etihad’s Mumbai-London flight EY17 now fly over Saudi Arabia and Egypt instead of Iraq.

On 2 October, some flights to and from India were delayed.

In a statement, Air India said that all its flights are assessed daily for potential security or safety risks, whether in the Middle East or any other part of its route network. "Adjustments are made, if required, to avoid areas of risk with minimal impact on our non-stop operations. The situation is being closely monitored," the airline said.

Air India has already suspended flights to Tel Aviv (Israel) until further notice.

Other global airlines have also diverted or cancelled flights post-attack, with regional airports, including in Lebanon, Israel, and Kuwait, showing significant delays.

Emirates has announced it is cancelling all regular flights to/from Iraq (Basra and Baghdad), Iran (Tehran), and Jordan (Amman) on 4 and 5 October. “We continue to closely monitor the situation in the region and are in contact with the relevant authorities regarding developments,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

"Most airlines have rerouted flights away from Iran, with the northern route taking flights through Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India on their way to Asia, and the southern route flying over Egypt and Saudi Arabia," said FlightRadar24 spokesperson Ian Petchenik, according to Reuters.

Concerns over travel disruption as the conflict intensifies have also affected shares in the travel and airline sectors.

Iran launched its largest missile attack against Israel on Tuesday night in retaliation for Israel's campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, prompting a threat from Israel of a "painful response."

Among Indian carriers, Vistara’s VTI023 Mumbai-Paris, Mumbai-Frankfurt flight UK27, New Delhi-Frankfurt VTI025, as well as Air India’s London-Mumbai flight AIC128, have started taking a circuitous route through Tajikistan and Turkmenistan from 2 October, as per Flightradar24 data.