The frequency of flights over Afghanistan's airspace has surged, increasing sevenfold over the past year due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. This trend was reported by Reuters, citing data from the Flightradar service.
“With the escalation of conflicts, the approach to the use of airspace has changed. Airlines are seeking to minimize risks and believe that flying over Afghanistan is a safer option, given the current tensions between Iran and Israel,” Flightradar Communications Director Jan Pechenik told Reuters.
According to data analyzed by Flightradar, there were seven times more flights over Afghanistan in the second week of August compared to the same period in 2023. This significant increase began around mid-April, following Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Israel in retaliation for the shelling of the Iranian embassy's consular section in Damascus.
Air carriers initially ceased using Afghan airspace after the Taliban took control of the country in 2021. Despite the lack of air traffic control, airlines are now increasingly considering Afghan airspace safer than the routes over Iran and Israel. Additionally, flight restrictions related to the conflict in Ukraine have contributed to this shift in air traffic.
Since April, major airlines such as Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways, and Air France-KLM have all increased the number of flights passing through Afghan airspace. Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Taiwan's EVA Air further increased their frequency of flights over Afghanistan in July. This uptick in traffic coincided with a new round of Middle East tensions, particularly following the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian Hamas political bureau, in Tehran, and Fuad Shukr, a Hezbollah military commander, in Beirut. Both incidents, blamed on Israel, have led to vows of retaliation from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
The rise in traffic over Afghanistan is also attributed to relaxed restrictions. In July, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowed flights at lower altitudes over Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northeast. In 2023, the FAA lifted its ban on flights over Afghan airspace, stipulating that planes must fly above 32,000 feet (approximately 9,745 meters).
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Based on materials from TASS