Published on : Monday, August 4, 2014
Iraq is safe says British Airways spokesperson and there is no necessity to stop flights in that route immediately. BA is regarding the situation on a daily basis and flights from UK to Dubai and Doha will normally fly over the Iraqi airspace.
BA has confirmed that the highest priority is the safety and security of crew and customers. Following the incident of the Malaysia Airlines a number of planes have thought it prudent to avoid war zone.
British airways have been avoiding the airspace over Ukraine for several months. It had suspended flights to and from Tripoli up to and including 5 August due to the security situation in Libya. Qantas has already started diverting planes flying through Iraqi airspace.
A spokesperson from Qantas had said that given the altitude that the flight takes over the Iraqi region it is quite safe from any attack. But with restriction imposed from its own government, US’s FAA, the airline has temporarily rerouted flights within the Middle East to avoid the Iraqi airspace.
Lufthansa the German airline too suspended flights over the country. Emirates Air Line, Virgin Atlantic and Air France, began diverting flights earlier this week.
British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) felt that some airlines are making decisions of not flying over disturbed areas due to commercial concerns rather than safety.
They feel that there should be a uniform level of safety and felt that global leadership from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to monitor the perils of flight operations over hostile areas.
Canada, Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (Canso) director general Jeff Poole the shooting of the Malaysia airline raises vital questions about the safety of the aircraft over conflict zones. The gaps in the overall management of airspace should be dealt with adequately.
Tags: british airways
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