British Airways flight swerves to avoid Iraq and Iran in wake of air strikes

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Flight data shows the BA aircraft dramatically changing course, apparently to avoid Iraqi airspace
FlightRadar24

A British Airways flight to Heathrow was diverted in an apparent move to avoid Iraqi and Iranian airspace.

Flight BA134 departed from Mumbai in the early hours of this morning, beginning its usual route towards the UK.

But flight maps show the Boeing 777 made a sudden turn as it approached northeastern Iraq, close to the Iranian border.

The tracking site FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft break away from its planned route, passing briefly over Iraq and Iran, as it circled back and headed southwest over Kuwait and into Saudi Arabia.

The plane then crossed the Egyptian cities of Cairo and Alexandria but instead of continuing on to London, touched down at Athens just after 8am local time (6am UK time).

It is understood a number of flights operated by a range of airlines changed course overnight as a result of the Iranian air strike.

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British Airways never discusses exact routings for security reasons, but a spokesperson for the airline told the Standard: “We are in constant contact with our partners around the world to assess the security of our routes.”

“We will always take action where appropriate,” they added. “We would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.”

Hundreds of flights are continuing to use Iranian and Iraqi airspace. Emirates flight EK1 from Dubai to Heathrow, which took off shortly after the BA flight from Mumbai, followed its normal course over the Gulf.

However, US airlines have been prohibited from entering the area after the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) confirmed that "flight restrictions prohibit US civil aviation operators from operating in the airspace over Iraq, Iran, and the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman".

The FAA added that it was "closely monitoring" the situation amid heightened military activities in the region and mounting political tensions in the Middle East.

Many US carriers, including American Airlines, Delta and United, are already banned from flying below 26,000ft over Iraq and Iran after a US drone was shot down in June last year.

But no such ban yet exists in the UK as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is yet to update their advice.

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