In the aftermath of the shooting of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 last week and the rocket strike near Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv this week, people planning to fly to the Middle East or on a route crossing Eastern Europe have been left wondering whether or not they could — or should — continue with their travel plans.
Below, we offer an F.A.Q. with some updates on both incidents and advice on how to find out if you're flying friendly skies. If you've got a question that we didn't answer, leave it in comments below and we may include it in a later post.
Q. Can I fly into Tel Aviv yet?
A. Depends on the airline. The F.A.A. lifted its ban on flights to Ben-Gurion International Airport late Wednesday night, less than 48 hours after a rocket fired from the Gaza strip landed about a mile from the airport. Delta, United and US Airways had all resumed service to the airport by Thursday night.
Air France and Lufthansa, the German airline canceled flights there, as recommended in a statement from the European Aviation Safety Agency on Thursday, but will resume them. Air France flights will operate flights to Tel Aviv on Friday night, and Lufthansa said it would begin operating them in stages on Saturday.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has also inspired Costa Cruises, the Italian cruise line, to cancel calls in Ashdod and Haifa, Israel, during two of its September cruises, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.
"The company is in constant contact with local and international authorities to ensure the safety of its operations. Costa will continue to carefully monitor the situation in Israel and nearby areas," the release said.
A warning posted on the United States State Department's Web site Monday recommended that American citizens refrain from any nonessential travel to Israel and the West Bank, because of the escalating conflict.
Q. What about the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane? Will my flight be affected?
A. The frequency of daily flights, both on Malaysia and other airlines, has not been affected, though Malaysia will now entirely avoid Ukrainian airspace, flying farther south over Turkey instead, the company said in a statement. On Sunday, however, the airline fell under scrutiny when flightradar24.com, a website that shows live air traffic around the world, spotted one of Malaysia's aircraft over Syria, a region considered by some to be as volatile and dangerous as the Ukraine and Russian border. ("As per the notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, the Syrian airspace was not subject to restrictions," Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.)
Q. I booked through a code share partner of Malaysia Airlines. Will my flight also be rerouted?
A. OneWorld Alliance, of which Malaysia Airlines is a member, confirmed in a statement that all its member airlines had agreed to reroute planes away from eastern Ukraine. Those members include Malaysia's code share partners, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and Sri Lankan Airlines.
Other code share partners including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Jet Airways have also said they would avoid eastern Ukraine indefinitely; and on July 22, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement prohibiting United States operators from flying within the Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
Q. Can I get access to my flight plan before departure?
A. While domestic flight plans for the United States are relatively easy to find online, those who want to know the exact trajectory of an international flight may have some trouble, Fredrik Lindhal, flightradar24.com's chief executive said on the telephone. Contacting the airline is the most logical solution as international plans are not typically published, he said. But tracking the flight on a site like his own in the days prior to your departure can also help reveal any changes being made to the flight's regular pattern.
FlightAware.com, another live flight tracking website, can offer the same, but tracking flights in this way is a lot like advertising, Mr. Lindhal said. "They always have to give that 'past performance will not guarantee future returns' disclaimer. The site can be an indicator, but at the end of the day its always up to the air traffic control and the pilot," he said.
"Flight bag" digital applications, as Jeff Price, an aviation management and security consultant in Denver called them, may also be helpful. ForeFlight, an aviation application for pilots, and Jeppesen's Mobile FliteDeck Pro, a similar app, are both available with a subscription, which costs about $100 a year, Mr. Price said.
But temporary reroute plans due to a situation like that in Ukraine would be provided directly to commercial air carrier flight operations centers by the air traffic controlling entity, he said. "It might just be a situation where the air traffic control reroutes the traffic on their own temporarily, through their flight clearances and radio transmissions."
Q. What should I take into consideration when choosing a carrier?
A. There is not much a passenger can do to affect the route of a flight, Mr. Price said, other than booking a series of one-way flights that might circumnavigate potentially dangerous areas.
"I think it's also reasonable to ask the airline what assurances they can give to the passengers that the route of a flight will not be over hazardous areas. Just like a passenger can be reasonably certain that their aircraft will not fly into a hazardous weather situation, like directly into a thunderstorm."
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