YOUR long-haul flight could soon take even longer due to ongoing airspace closures.
Travellers heading to and from Asia are set to face longer flights due to current conflict between and Pakistan.
A number of Asian airlines have announced that they are re-routing or cancelling flights to and from because of the conflict between India and Pakistan.
Following the attack on Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir, five Indian fighter jets were shot down in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the countries.
More than 20 flights have since been diverted to avoid Pakistan airspace, with another 52 to or from Pakistan cancelled, according to FlightRadar24.
This also means flights from India to Europe have been forced to take longer routes, affecting a handful of flights to London Heathrow.
This included a flight from Delhi to London, which departed over two hours late from the Indian capital this morning.
The flight flew southwest almost to Mumbai before setting a course for and arrived three hours late causing many onward connections to be missed, according to The Independent.
A Lufthansa flight from to was also noted turning right towards the Arabian Sea near the western Indian city of Surat – a longer path compared to the previous day.
A spokesperson for said it was not flying over Pakistan until further notice.
has also suspended flying over the South Asian country, according to CNN.
Taiwan’s EVA Air shared that it will adjust its flights to and from Europe to avoid airspace affected by the fighting.
Thai Airways added that flights to destinations in Europe andwould be rerouted starting early today.
Airlines commented that flights to and from destinations including London, Frankfurt and had been disrupted, with some cancelled.
Other China Airlines flights have had to make technical stops in Bangkok and Prague to refuel and change crews, before taking longer flight paths.
As a result, flights that were due to fly over the impacted regions could take longer until airlines deem it safe to fly the usual routes again.
The Foreign Office is currently warning Brits in the region to not travel within 10 kilometres of the India-Pakistan border.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said: “On the night of 6 May (UK Time), the Indian stated it had struck nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In response, there are reports of Pakistani artillery fire across the Line of Control.
“On the night of 6 May (UK Time) Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority indicated that it was closing Pakistan airspace for at least 48 hours. There are reports of flights being diverted. British nationals should contact their airline for up-to-date information.”;
It’s not the only reason flights are taking longer.
The on-going conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen Russia’s airspace closed to many global airlines as well.
The closure has routes to and from Asia taking as much as four hours longer.
For example, British Airways’ route from London to Tokyo is now two hours longer, taking around 14 hours rather than the previous 12.
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