Indian and foreign carriers will continue to take the longer route while flying between the west and parts of south Asia. A number of non-US airlines have already started avoiding the area following the FAA notice to airmen (NOTAM) for the area that is witnessing heightened tensions after Iran shot down a US drone

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday asked its airlines to avoid flying in the over-water area of Tehran flight information region, a part of Iranian airspace covering Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman close to the Iranian coastline. While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) advisory does not ask Indian airlines from transiting via Iran over-land, the latter are seeing if that also can be avoided.

The result will be that Indian airlines — impacting Air India that flies beyond Gulf to Saudi, Europe and US and IndiGo that flies from Doha to Istanbul — will now need to take slightly longer detours. It could increase affected flights’ travel time further by up to half an hour and one-way fares by up to Rs 500, say sources.

The new detours come on top of the already longer routes flights between the west and south Asia, with Delhi at its heart, are taking after Pakistan closed its airspace since February 27. While they may add to travel time, better safe than anything else.

DGCA Saturday afternoon tweeted: “All Indian operators in consultation with DGCA have decided to avoid the affected part of Iranian airspace to ensure safe travel for passengers. They will re-route flights suitably.”

Comforting passengers, Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani said: “(There will be ) no substantial effect on AI flights. Details (are being) being worked out for rerouting incoming flights.”

The US Federal Aviation Administration had on Friday issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) saying: “All flight operations in the over water area of the Tehran flight information region (FII) above the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman only are prohibited until further notice due to heightened military activities… in the region, which presents an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations and potential for miscalculation or mis-identification."

US mega carrier United has already suspended both its India flights — a daily each to Delhi and Mumbai — due to closure of Enroute airspace of Iran (partially) and Pakistan. Lufthansa said its group airlines “have been proactively flying around the Strait of Hormuz since June 20. From June 21 the area will be expanded again noticeably.”

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad said it has “suspended operations through Iranian airspace over the Straits of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, and will use alternative flight paths on a number of routes to and from Abu Dhabi until further notice. These changes will cause delays on some departures from Abu Dhabi, due to increased congestion in available airspace, and will increase journey times on some routes… safety of passengers and staff is the highest priority.. we are continually engaging with regulatory authorities and conducting our own risk assessments to ensure that our standards are not compromised.”