In visuals: Midair U-turn by Indian flights as Iran fired missiles on Qatar

On Monday night, it was business as usual for pilots taking off from Indian airports with thousands of passengers in tow. Before they could travel half-way, they had to make a U-turn as Iran launched ballistic missiles on a US air base in Qatar on Monday night.

After reviewing flight data, India Today's Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team ascertained that most of the planes overlying the Arabian Sea returned between 10 pm and 11 pm.

At least 13 flights operated by Indian carriers either returned to their source of origin or other nearby airports to avoid harm's way, according to data obtained from flight tracking firm Flightradar24.

IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express and SpiceJet were among the affected Indian carriers. They were flying to destinations in the United Araba Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

IndiGo's Hyderabad-Abu Dhabi flight IGO1407 had to return from the Gulf of Oman. It made a U-turn around 10.50 pm and was diverted to Surat. Air India Express's Varanasi to Sharjah flight hovered in a circle for 20 minutes before landing at its destination.

Similarly, three flights of Jazeera Airways heading towards Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram from Kuwait City were also forced to return to their source of origin, the data shows. Jazeera's flight JZR405 had crossed Qatar but turned back around 10.19 pm IST.

Many foreign carriers were also affected and had to land on many Indian airports before continuing their journey towards the Gulf and further West in Europe. Etihad, Emirates and FlyDubai were among such carriers.

flights originating from cities such as Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Phuket en route to the Middle East and Europe were forced to alter course. Many sought refuge in airports across South and Southeast Asia, including Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Chennai, Singapore and Bahrain, while others were compelled to return to their points of origin.

A flight from Manila to Doha, typically around eight hours long, was forced to divert and land at Bengaluru airport. Another flight from Delhi to Dubai had to turn back and return to Delhi.

IRAN ATTACKED US BASE

Iran launched around six missiles on the Al Udeid air base, the US's largest in the Middle East, on Monday night in retaliation to the US bombing of its nuclear facilities.

Hours before the missile attacks, several Gulf nations, including Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq and the UAE, temporarily closed their airspace. Qatar went a step ahead to suspend all flight operations.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that nearly two dozen flights to Doha - primarily operated by Qatar Airways - were diverted on Monday, along with several flights to Dubai, due to regional airspace closures.

The abrupt return or diversions add financial and operational costs to airlines as they avoid the risk of aircraft being accidentally or deliberately targeted.

With Russian and Ukrainian airspace also closed to most airlines due to years of war, the Middle East has become a more important route for flights between Europe and Asia. Amid missile and air strikes during the past 10 days, airlines have routed north via the Caspian Sea or south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

- Ends