Thousands of passengers from the UK have found themselves landing in unexpected locations as a result of the sudden closure of airspace in the Middle East.
Air India, Emirates and Qatar Airways are among the airlines that have diverted flights due to the surge in conflict between Israel and Iran.
Three overnight Emirates flights from the UK – from Birmingham, London and Manchester – diverted to Istanbul. They were en route over southeast Turkey when airspace in Iran and Iraq was cancelled. There is no indication when the journeys may continue.
An Emirates flight from London Heathrow to Dubai diverted to Bahrain to refuel, but has since continued its journey – arriving three hours behind schedule.
Passengers on Emirates from Dublin are currently at Damman in Saudi Arabia.
Qatar Airways has diverted two flights from the UK to Cairo: the overnight departures from Manchester and London Heathrow were also over Turkish airspace when they turned and flew south to the Egyptian capital. They have now refuelled and are continuing their journeys.
Many UK-originating passengers have missed connections, and there is certain to be further disruption with aircraft and crew out of position.
Dubai is the world’s biggest intercontinental air hub, and connections on both Emirates and FlyDubai are disrupted. Doha has also seen a number of cancellations of onward flights.
Under air passengers’ rights rules, passengers who begin their journeys in the UK or European Union are entitled to be flown to their destination as soon as possible.
Air India diverted five flights between London Heathrow and India “due to the emerging situation in Iran, the subsequent closure of its airspace and in view of the safety of our passengers”.
- AI130 to Mumbai and AI2016 to Delhi landed in Vienna
- AI132 to Bengaluru diverted to Sharjah
- AI129 from Mumbai to Heathrow returned to its starting point
In addition, a flight from Delhi to Heathrow due in at 11.30am was cancelled.
As a result of the disruption, some outbound Air India flights from the UK have been cancelled, including the 12.30pm departure to Mumbai and the 1.15pm to Delhi.
The first Air India departure to London Gatwick after the Ahmedabad tragedy has also been cancelled. Flight AI145 from Mopa airport in Goa was due to depart at 1.05pm, arriving 10 hours later at the Sussex airport. It was expected to be operated on a Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner”, the same type as the crash aircraft.
Information on the flight-tracking website Flightradar24 indicates that the plane made a trip earlier on Friday morning from Delhi to Goa as scheduled.
The Independent has not been able to assess the reason for the cancellation.
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