Air India flight headed to Kiev makes U-turn as Ukraine shuts airspace

Air India flight 1947, headed for Boryspil International Airport in Kiev to bring Indian citizens back, has to turn mid-way and return to New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday, February 24, as Ukraine closed its airspace for commercial flights. The country is facing Russian military operations.

The flight took off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at 7.30 am. Flight tracker flightradar24.com indicated that the plane had entered Iran after being airborne for two hours, when it turned back. The AI flight decided to return to Delhi after Kiev sent a notice to airmen (NOTAM) to all flights heading to Ukraine.

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On Tuesday, Air India’s first repatriation flight brought back 242 Indians — mostly students — from Kiev. Thousands of Indians are still stuck in Ukraine, waiting to fly back home, said media reports.

Risk faced by commercial flights

Amid heavy military operations in eastern Ukraine, commercial flights are viewed as a risk, as they crowd the airspace along with military anti-aircraft activity.

It may be recalled that in 2014, all 298 people aboard were killed when a Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down amid heavy fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatist rebels. It is suspected that the aircraft was shot at by a BUK anti-aircraft missile fired from eastern Ukraine.

Vistara, which is a full-service airline in the Tata Group along with Air India, has not ventured into operating flights to Ukraine. While other private airlines had initially said they might, the plans are unlikely to take off now.