Kazakhstan airlines divert flights over Iran and Iraq airspace

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – Two Kazakh airlines, Air Astana and SCAT, decided to change routes in connection with the situation in Iran, the press services of both companies said on 8 January.
Prior to the stabilisation of the situation in the Persian Gulf region, SCAT airlines decided to change routes from Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia and Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.
“The flights in these directions will be carried out through the territories of other countries. Due to these changes, the duration of flights to Sharm El-Sheikh will increase by 1 hour, to Saudi Arabia-up to 1.5 hours,” SCAT said. “The airline is closely monitoring developments and will provide additional information in case of changes,” the company added.
Air Astana announced a decision to change the route from Almaty and Nur-Sultan to Dubai. Flights over the airspace of Iraq and Iran will be excluded, the airline’s press service said. “The flight time for the Almaty – Dubai flight will increase by 20 minutes, Dubai – Almaty by 10 minutes, Nur Sultan – Dubai by 55 minutes, Dubai – Nur-Sultan by 35 minutes,” Air Astana said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan has recommended to domestic airlines refrain from flying over Iranian airspace. “In connection with the current situation, Kazakhstani airlines are working on the issue of performing these flights through alternative airways to fly over Iranian airspace in coordination with the navigation services of the respective countries,” the ministry said.