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After two-year suspension, US and EU carriers allowed to overfly Afghanistan
In the coming weeks, the travel time between the East, including India, and the West will be significantly reduced, especially after key aviation regulators allow commercial aircraft to resume flying over Afghanistan, an Indian newspaper reported on Friday.
The overfly suspension came after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) resumed control of the country in 2021.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted permission to American airlines to fly over the Kabul Flight Information Region (FIR) at altitudes exceeding 32,000 feet, Economic Times reported.
This decision comes as the FAA assesses reduced risks to US civil aviation operations at higher altitudes in the region. The move aligns with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) directive to its member state airlines, urging them not to fly below 32,000 feet due to ongoing potential threats to civil aviation and high operational risks at lower altitudes, the report said.
Since August 2021, flights between the western and eastern regions, including northern India, have taken longer routes to circumvent Afghanistan airspace. These diversions added approximately half an hour of flying time. The situation further escalated last summer when Russia’s attack on Ukraine prompted additional airspace restrictions, leading to Western carriers avoiding Russian airspace altogether. With the recent reopening of Afghanistan’s airspace for overflights, one section of the congested air route is finally relieved, according to the report.
Following the IEA’s takeover of Afghanistan, the International Civil Aviation Organisation Asia-Pacific office established a Contingency Coordination Team (CCT) consisting of Afghanistan and neighboring air navigation service providers.
Officials from Indian airlines, however, assert that it might take some time before overflying Afghanistan is resumed. They highlight the need for a comprehensive risk analysis and the development of emergency landing procedures at Afghan airports.
Additionally, the involvement and cooperation of neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Turkmenistan are vital, as aircraft would need to enter Afghanistan from these directions at specified altitudes. While the FAA clearance is a significant step forward and may prompt other aviation regulators to follow suit, airlines are cautious, awaiting further developments and approvals. The Association for America Airlines, representing major US carriers, is currently reviewing the updated rules.
Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev on Tuesday called on Central Asian nations to strengthen cooperation and coordination with regards to Afghanistan.
Speaking at the 13th Annual Meeting of Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Central Asian states, Kulubaev said that the establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan plays an important role in ensuring regional security and prosperity.
He expressed support for the activities of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and thanked the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva for her work within the framework of the UNAMA mandate, Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Roza Otunbayeva also attended the two-day meeting in Bishkek which ended on Tuesday.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the construction of the Wakhan corridor road in Badakhshan has started and once complete will have a huge impact on Afghanistan’s economy.
The planned road will directly link Afghanistan with China through the narrow strip of land separating the two countries.
Mujahid said that the leadership of the IEA has taken important steps in the direction of developing the country’s economic relations and is trying to create different transit routes.
According to him, with the construction of this road, Afghanistan’s trade relations will expand.
“The area of the Wakhan road to the Chinese border is 60 km. Currently, the machinery of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Works is there and they are being used,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials at the Chamber of Commerce and Investment have asked the IEA to complete the construction of the Wakhan road in Badakhshan as soon as possible so that Afghanistan no longer needs to depend on Pakistan’s transit routes for trade purposes.
“We request the elders of the Islamic Emirate to open the Wakhan port as soon as possible because our trade is 80 to 90 percent with China,” said a member of ACCI.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Political Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said that the Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, and the Afghan embassy in New Delhi will soon resume operations.
“Our consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are functioning and are in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They provide consular services on a daily basis. Currently, our consuls in Mumbai and Hyderabad are present at the embassy in Delhi. I talked to them. They have reopened the embassy,” Stanikzai said in an interview with RTA that was broadcast on Tuesday night.
Stanikzai said that the Afghan embassy in India will resume its operations in the next two or three days.
Recently, the Afghan embassy in India announced its permanent closure, citing challenges from the Indian government.
Stanikzai in the interview also said that in his opinion, the Islamic Emirate has been recognized because it still has diplomatic relations with the countries it had in the past.
He said that there are currently about 20 embassies operating in Afghanistan.
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