Indian carriers Air India and Jet Airways will avoid the airspace of war-torn eastern Ukraine following a directive issued to them by the DGCA in the wake of the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner in which all 295 people on board were killed on Thursday.
The aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation issued instructions to Air India and Jet Airways, the only two Indian carriers that fly to Europe and North America, to avoid Ukrainian airspace while flying to and from destinations in both the continents, official sources said here.
An Air India official said they would abide by any international advisory “to avoid airspace over conflict zone like Ukraine”.
Airlines have to take a call on the routing to America and European destinations. There are several routes to go to the US and Europe and airlines have to take a call whether to abide by global aviation advisory on such issues, sources said.
All 295 people on board a Malaysia Airlines plane were killed after the aircraft was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew and could have been brought down by a ground-to-air missile.