The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued a revised regulation banning US carriers and registered aircraft from flying over the northern half of Afghanistan, including the use of two newly opened international air routes across the centre of the country. The move has already forced Delta Air Lines and Swissair to drop a code-share arrangement.
An amendment to the four-year-old Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) 67 bars US operators and N-registered aircraft from flying through Afghan airspace west of longitude 70¼35' east or north of latitude 33° north. The ban, which lasts until May 2000, is needed as the "-civil war in Afghanistan continues to present an immediate hazard to the operation of civil aircraft", says the FAA.
The new ruling partially lifts a four-year SFAR 67 prohibition over virtually the entire country, by permitting US flights over the Taliban-controlled south of Afghanistan. Last year the FAA let US aircraft use route V500 and later V876 over the Wakhan corridor east of war-torn Kabul, which it says presents "minimal risk".
In reality, however, the FAA revision makes very little difference, as most international trunk routes between Asia and Europe cross north and northwest Afghanistan, much of which is now also controlled by the Taliban. This includes two new routes crossing from Pakistan to Turkmenistan, V888 and V838, as well as the recently re-opened main A466 and G668 routes to northern Europe.
These routes are now being widely used by non-US carriers, including Swissair flights along V888 for Zurich-Singapore services. FAA pressure, however, has forced its partner, Delta, to withdraw from a code-share arrangement as Swissair refused to reroute its service. The alternative is a time consuming deviation to the south over Iran, or north over Russia.
Source: Flight International
