Just the Facts Afghan airspace was closed to commercial airlines September 16 Carriers are now being rerouted south of the Himalayas, adding about 30 minutes or more travel time About 120 commercial airliners flew over Afghanistan everyday including: Air France, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Malaysian Airlines, Pakistan International Airways, Qantas, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, Ariana Afghan Airlines, Turkmenistan Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways. Popular routes that utilized Afghan airspace included: Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Athens, London, Zurich and Frankfurt to Singapore Flights between Rome and Bangkok, Zurich and Hong Kong and various flights to Lahore and Delhi.

When flights were allowed, some 120 commercial airliners flew over Afghanistan everyday. Afghanistan's popularity grew from the fuel and cost savings its airspace offered; flying over the country saved carriers about 30 minutes in travel time. Now that time and then some has been added back.

A majority of the planes that used Afghan airspace included those going from airports in Southeast Asia and India (Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai), as well as from European and Middle Eastern destinations. Popular routes included Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Athens, London, Zurich and Frankfurt to Singapore and flights between Rome and Bangkok, Zurich and Hong Kong and various routes to Lahore and Delhi.

The hardest hit carriers are Thai Airways International, which used to take 18 flights per day across Afghan airspace, and Singapore Airlines, which took 16 flights. Smaller regional operations, such as Turkmenistan Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways, have also been seriously affected. One carrier that has not been challenged by the closure of Afghanistan to commercial carriers is Cathay Pacific, which routes its flights over Russian and Chinese airspace.

Because the routes of a significant number of flights were affected, international and national air transport authorities, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA) stepped in and made immediate plans to ensure safe air navigation and to limit the disruption to commercial flights in nearby states. "IATA pressed for immediate action to be taken to provide a contingency routing scheme that would enable airline operations to continue with a minimum of disruption in the event of airspace restrictions or closure in the Middle East," said Tony Laven, IATA's director of operations and infrastructure for the Asia-Pacific region.

Developed by IATA and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Contingency Route Plan Asia/Middle East/Europe (CRAME) looks at alternative routings south of the Himalayas for traffic operating between Asia and Europe, Asia and the Middle East and the Middle East and Europe. "A significant number of airlines that would normally route over Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran and Pakistan or over the Gulf are utilizing routes over Saudi Arabia and Oman," said Laven.

Of course this is all subject to change at a moment's notice. Both IATA and ICAO are on standby to revise the plan should military activity escalate or spread to other areas.