United Airlines said it had suspended flights from Newark to Mumbai after a safety review in light of events in Iran, which this week shot down a high-altitude U.S. surveillance drone.
“Given current events in Iran, we have conducted a thorough safety and security review of our India service through Iranian airspace and decided to suspend our service between EWR and BOM,” United said on its website, referring to the airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order prohibiting U.S. operators from flying in an overwater area of Tehran-controlled airspace over the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman due to heightened tensions.
Air France, Qantas and KLM also announced they would implement changed routes through the region.
In a separate advisory to operators, FAA said according to flight tracking applications, the nearest civil aircraft was operating within around 45 nautical miles of a U.S. Global Hawk drone when it was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile last week.
