Key route to West disrupted, flyers stranded

NEW DELHI: India’s aviation regulator on Saturday asked all Indian carriers to avoid flying through large swathes of West Asian airspace, warning of a “significant escalation in security risks” after the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory missile attacks across the Gulf.

- Neha LM Tripathi

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) identified II flight information regions as high-risk zones — spanning Tehran, Baghdad, Tel Aviv, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Jeddah, the Emirates, Bahrain, Doha and Muscat—and directed airlines to avoid them at all flight levels. The advisory, effective immediately, is valid until March 2 unless superseded by further developments. It followed a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin issued by Europe's aviation safety regulator, EASA.