AI Express gets clearance to overfly Pak, Iran to reach Gulf

Mumbai, June. 7 (PTI): Low-cost carrier Air India Express has obtained special permission for its flights to the Gulf to fly over Pakistan and Iran as a tropical storm in Oman has damaged radars there, rendering it dangerous to fly on normal routes over Omani airspace.

"The radars there are not yet fully operational and Muscat airport is only now slowly getting back to normal. Under the present conditions, we cannot fly over Omani airspace and we will be flying over Pakistan and Iran to the Gulf," Air India Express' Chief Operating Officer P P Singh told PTI here today.

He said four flights were operated today to the Gulf from Kochi airport and five more would take off from Calicut by 9 pm.

The Mumbai-Bahrain-Doha and Mumbai-Pune-Dubai flights took off this evening, he said.

Two flights, one from Mangalore and the other from Amritsar, were cancelled while two Kochi-Trivandrum-Abu Dhabi flights operated without touching Trivandrum. Passengers in Trivandrum will be accommodated tomorrow. Air India Express' priority is to first resume normal flights before considering any additional flights in the coming days, he said.

According to Singh, Air India Express flights have been particularly affected since its planes have a short range unlike Air India's which are long range and can thus take long detours.

All Air India flights to the Gulf have also been delayed.

An Air India spokesperson said: "We have rescheduled our flights and there are delays on Gulf routes. Until we get an okay from the Omani authorities, the present situation will continue."

He, however, said normalcy should be restored within the next two days.

Omani authorities have partially restored their systems and Muscat airport has re-opened but it will take at least another 36 to 40 hours for normalcy to be restored.

Till then, the circuitous route over Pakistan and Iran will have to be taken by Indian carriers for flights to the Gulf.