Airlines are rerouting flights through the Middle East after being told by the FAA to avoid certain "overwater" areas of Iranian airspace following the shooting down of a US surveillance drone.
Iranian forces intercepted the unmanned US drone near the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz on Thursday (20 June) with the US claiming that the aircraft was flying in international airspace when it was shot down. The Iran government has said the drone had been operating in its airspace.
The FAA reacted to the incident by barring all US-registered aircraft from flying through this area of the Gulf “until further notice, due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions”.
Reports from US media outlets have since revealed that US president Donald Trump initially approved retaliatory military strikes against Iran before backing down and calling off the action.
The FAA added that was an “inadvertent risk” to commercial airliners due to potential for the “miscalculation or misidentification” of aircraft.
“There were numerous civil aviation aircraft operating in the area at the time of the intercept,” said the FAA.
Following the FAA’s announcement, several non-US carriers including KLM, Malaysia Airlines and Qantas announced they would be rerouting flights to avoid the area.
United also cancelled all flights from Newark to Mumbai due to the rising tensions.
“Given current events in Iran, United has conducted a thorough safety and security review of our India service through Iranian airspace and decided to suspend our service between New York/Newark and India,” said United in a statement.
The move comes in the same week as four men were charged with murder in relation to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines’ MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.
faa.gov