Exactly two years after the Taliban ousted a democratically elected government and took charge of the already debt-ridden Afghanistan, the United States has begun easing rules that could allow commercial airlines to fly over the country. The latest move came in line with the soaring fuel prices amid the ongoing Russia-Ukrainian war. With this, the aeroplanes can save fuel for East-West travel.
Although this would be a beneficial step for those airlines that are targeting Indian as well as Southeast Asian travellers, none of them dared to fly over the region amid the fact America left lethal weapons when it pulled out its forces in August 2021.
Though US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) categorically said it allowed airlines in order to save fuel and fly hours, it raises multiple questions about whether airlines manage the risk of flying in uncontrolled airspace over a country where an estimated 4,500 shoulder-launched anti-aircraft weapons still lurk. Also, the airline fears the situation if you have an emergency and need to land suddenly.
Who wants to fly over such a country?
Who wants to fly over such a country? The OPSGroup, an organisation for the aviation industry, recently offered a simple answer: “No one!” “There's no ATC service across the entire country, there's a seemingly endless list of surface-to-air weaponry they might start shooting at you if you fly too low, and if you have to divert then good luck with the Taliban,” the group wrote in an advisory, using an acronym for air traffic control.
Still, the possibility of overflights resuming would have a major impact on carriers. Though landlocked, Afghanistan's position in central Asia means it sits along the most direct routes for those travelling from India to Europe and America.
After the Taliban takeover of Kabul on August 15, 2021, civil aviation simply stopped, as ground controllers no longer managed the airspace. Fears about anti-aircraft fire, particularly after the 2014 shootdown of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, saw authorities around the world order their commercial airliners out.
Why Afghanistani airspace is important?
In the time since airlines largely curve around Afghanistan's borders. Flights rush through Afghan airspace for only a few minutes while over the sparsely populated Wakhan Corridor, a narrow panhandle that juts out of the east of the country between Tajikistan and Pakistan, before continuing on their way.
But those diversions add more time to flights — which means the aircraft burns more jet fuel, a major expense for any carrier. That's why a decision in late July by the US Federal Aviation Administration caught the industry's eye when it announced flights above 32,000 feet “may resume due to diminished risks to US civil aviation operations at those altitudes.”
The FAA says it believes flights at or above 32,000 feet remain out of reach of those weapons, even if fired from a mountaintop.
What airlines that operate flights to India say?
United Airlines runs a direct flight to New Delhi from Newark, New Jersey, that uses the Wakhan Corridor and could be shortened by an overflight. “In accordance with current FAA rules, United operates Newark to New Delhi flights over a small section of Afghanistan where air traffic control is provided by other countries,” United spokesman Josh Freed told the AP.
“We do not plan to expand our use of Afghan airspace at this time.” Virgin Atlantic flies over the corridor for its New Delhi flights as well. The United Kingdom has yet to change its guidance telling carriers to stay out of nearly all of Afghan airspace. Virgin Atlantic said it makes “ongoing dynamic assessments of flight routings based on the latest situation reports and always following the strict advice set out by the UK.”
American Airlines and Air India also use the Wakhan Corridor route. Despite the lack of interest now, airlines in the past used the route heavily.
(With inputs from agency)
