New Delhi:
Amid the growing hostilities between Iran and US following the shooting of an American drone near the Strait of Hormuz, India has asked its airlines to avoid flying over the troubled over-water area of Tehran airspace. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) advisory didn't bar them from flying over the land airspace of Iran.
"All Indian operators in consultation with DGCA have decided to avoid the affected part of Iranian Airspace to ensure safe travel for the passengers. They will re-route flights suitably," the DGCA tweeted.
Following the DGCA advisory, Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani comforted the passengers sayign that there will not be any substantial effect on the airline's flights due to this. “(There will be) no substantial effect on AI flights. Details (are being) being worked out for rerouting incoming flights," Lohani said in response to the DGCA notice.
The US Federal Aviation Administration had on Friday prohibited all flight operations in the overwater area of Iran due to hightened military activities in the region. In a notice issue to airmen (NOTAM), US Federal Aviation Administration said, "All flight operations in the overwater 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."
The tensions between Iran and US escalated following Tehran's action to shoot down an American drone near the Strait of Hormuz. While Iran said that the downed US Global Hawk spy drone entered its territorial waters, the Pentagon claimed it was above international waters when it was hit by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
According to Iranian state TV, "the US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down by its Air Force" in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan. The downing of the drone has seen tensions between the two countries spike dramatically after a series of attacks on oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.