Qantas and other airlines to stop flying over Iran and Iraq amidst escalating Middle East tensions

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Diverted: Qantas flies Dreamliners on its route over the Middle East between Perth and London
Qantas
Jason Collie8 January 2020

Commercial airlines have begun rerouting flights crossing the Middle East to avoid possible danger amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

Australian carrier Qantas said it was altering its London to Perth routes to avoid Iran and Iraq airspace until further notice.

The longer route meant that Qantas would have to carry fewer passengers and more fuel to remain in the air for an extra 40 to 50 minutes.

Malaysia Airlines said that "due to recent events" its planes would avoid Iranian airspace, while Singapore Airlines also said that its flights to Europe would be rerouted away from the country.

It came as Iran fired missiles at two American airbases in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani on Friday.

A Ukrainian passenger plane also crashed shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital of Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday, killing all 176 people - including three Brits - onboard There was no indication the crash was connected to the current crisis.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was barring American pilots and carriers from flying in areas of Iraqi, Iranian and some Persian Gulf airspace.

The agency warned of the "potential for miscalculation or mis-identification" for civilian aircraft amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran.

Such restrictions are often precautionary in nature to prevent civilian aircraft from being confused for ones engaged in armed conflict.

The FAA said the restrictions were being issued due to "heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the Middle East, which present an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations".

Additional reporting by Associated Press

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