At least two Air India flights flew through Iran-controlled airspace just hours before Tehran launched an unprecedented aerial strike on Israel, risking the lives of the people on board, a report said.
According to data from Flightradar24, a global flight tracker that shows live air traffic worldwide, Air India flights 116 and 131 operated routes from New York to Mumbai and from Mumbai to London, respectively, on April 13 and April 14. These flights traversed above the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, at a time when tensions between Iran and Israel were escalating, Hindustan Times reported.
While speaking to the publication on the subject, an Air India spokesman said that the airline accords top priority to the safety of its passengers, crew, and aircraft.
Denying any compromise on the safety by the company, he emphasised, “Our flight operations plan, regardless of airspace, is risk-assessed and we do not make any compromise with safety issues.”
The spokesman further added, “From 13th April 2024, even while the Iranian airspace was available to civilian air traffic without any restrictions or NOTAM and airlines continued operating in that airspace, Air India was closely monitoring the developing the situation in the Middle East in close consultation with various safety organisations and regulatory bodies.”
A NOTAM, or Notice to Airmen, is an alert issued by an aviation authority to pilots about potential hazards along a route or on the ground.
“As part of our risk assessment some of our west-bound flights were planned on an alternative route along the safe corridor which was also used by other airlines,” he added.
Apart from Air India, the flight tracker data showed that airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, Emirates, and Qatar Airways also flew over Iran’s airspace on April 13.
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