Flight Disruptions Due To Closure Of Airspace

[hallasm]

In view of the closure of Pakistani airspace, flights between Europe and Southeast Asia might be cancelled or delayed from February 27 - flights might also make refuelling stops en route before proceeding to their destinations.

Check you flights if flying to/from Europe and primarily Thailand and Singapore.

[FlyerTalker]

Not really, I would think.

 

Flights are already avoiding Afghan airspace, and the Pakistani closures shouldn't really be affecting flights into BKK or SIN.

 

You might want to look at the Great Circle Mapper for more info on great circle routings between points on the globe.  Very informative and entertaining.

 

www.gcmap.com

 

 

[hallasm]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Not really, I would think.

 

Flights are already avoiding Afghan airspace, and the Pakistani closures shouldn't really be affecting flights into BKK or SIN.

 

You might want to look at the Great Circle Mapper for more info on great circle routings between points on the globe.  Very informative and entertaining.

 

www.gcmap.com

 

 

 

I'm soon flying to SIN myself and would not rely on gcmap information in the current situation. My advise is to contact the airline if you are flying from Europe to either BKK or SIN (or other Southeast Asia airport) today or during the weekend.

 

Below some Singapore and Thai Air examples from February 27 - sure airlines will resume operation to/from Europe very soon however some delays could be expected.

 

Singapore Air to London
SQ308 operating from Singapore to London on 27 February 2019 will stop in Dubai for re-fuelling before proceeding to London.
SQ318 operating from Singapore to London on 27 February 2019 will stop in Mumbai for re-fuelling before proceeding to London.

Singapore Air to Frankfurt
SQ326 operating from Singapore to Frankfurt on 27 February will stop in Mumbai for re-fuelling before proceeding to Frankfurt.

 

Thai Airways

Three flights operate though Pakistani airspace February 27 areas as follows:

- Flight TG916 from Bangkok-London
- Flight TG974 from Bangkok-Moscow
- Flight TG926 from Bangkok-Frankfurt

The above-mentioned flights were returned to Bangkok and arrived safely at Suvarnabhumi Airport February 27.

 

The following flights from destinations in Europe to Bangkok on 27 February 2019 have been cancelled:
-    Flight TG911 from London-Bangkok
-    Flight TG921 from Frankfurt-Bangkok
-    Flight TG931 from Paris-Bangkok
-    Flight TG941 from Milan-Bangkok
-    Flight TG945 from Rome-Bangkok
-    Flight TG971 from Zurich-Bangkok
-    Flight TG951 from Copenhagen-Bangkok
-    Flight TG961 from Stockholm-Bangkok
-    Flight TG955 from Oslo-Bangkok
-    Flight TG925 from Munich-Bangkok
 

Edited February 28, 2019 by hallasm

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Not really, I would think.

 

Actually, there have been big problems between Europe and south-east Asia over the last 24 hours. Yesterday, BA alone had at least three aircraft that had to drop in to refuel en-route: BKK-LHR, DEL-LHR and KUL-LHR. I've seen an estimate from a pilot that the diversion around Pakistani airspace added about 800 miles to the track length.

 

It looks like the disruption is continuing today, although with the advance warning it may be that en-route diversions can be avoided. But for a flight like KUL-LHR, it could mean that stuff (bags or cargo) has to be left behind.

 

6 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

You might want to look at the Great Circle Mapper for more info on great circle routings between points on the globe.  Very informative and entertaining.

 

That doesn't tell you the whole story, though. Aircraft don't usually adhere to great circle routes as such. Amongst the issues that lead to the chosen routes: the existence and alignment of airways, overflight rights and permissions, weather including wind, and terrain (some may know that there are a couple of hills along the relevant great circle routes).

[Zach1213]

Friend of mine was on Swiss BKK-ZRH yesterday that had to stop at Muscat. I think they got in to Zurich about three or four hours late, between an initial delay + the stop in Oman.

[sumiandkage]

In addition to the Himalayas, the Chinese are also apparently very fussy about granting overflight rights to any civilian commercial aircraft, whether Chinese or foreign-flagged, in their air space. If the India-Pakistan disagreement drags on for weeks or longer, something will be carefully negotiated with them, but unless there's a mechanical emergency, you can't just get a quick permission to reroute to the north in their territory. 

[hallasm]

45 minutes ago, sumiandkage said:

but unless there's a mechanical emergency, you can't just get a quick permission to reroute to the north in their territory. 

As long as there is an armed conflict between India and Pakistan and fighters are being shot down in the area, I do not expect civilian airplanes to overfly the conflict areas - i hope they have learned the lessons from  when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on 17 July 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine,

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, sumiandkage said:

In addition to the Himalayas, the Chinese are also apparently very fussy about granting overflight rights to any civilian commercial aircraft, whether Chinese or foreign-flagged, in their air space.

 

In this context, the Chinese appear to have been remarkably accommodating to Thai Airways, which is today operating its flights to Europe using unusual (for TG) routings over Chinese airspace. This must all have been approved in a matter of hours.