Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) has joined a growing list of international carriers that have announced plans to avoid Iraqi airspace. The airline said it will now re-route its current A380-800 service from Dubai International to London Heathrow over Iranian airspace as a safety precaution.
Thus far, Air France (AF, Paris CDG), Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson), Emirates (EK, Dubai International), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol), Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow), Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International), Austrian Airlines (OS, Vienna), and Swiss (LX, Zurich) have all announced plans to avoid Iraq amid concerns the recently established Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has obtained high-altitude Surface-to-Air missiles (SAMs) from Syria.
British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) has said it will maintain its existing Iraqi operations but will consider its position on a daily basis.
Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the French civil aviation authority (Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile - DGAC) issued amended directives forbidding their nations' respective carriers from operating below 30'000ft over Iraqi airspace.
The sudden move to avoid conflict zones comes after the recent downing of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) flight MH17 while over the strife-torn eastern region of Ukraine. While official investigations have yet to be completed, it is believed the B777-200(ER) was downed by a SAM.
