Cathay Pacific reroutes flights due to Russian missile risk

Hong Kong – Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific is rerouting flights away from Iran and the Caspian Sea, as Russia intensifies its missile attacks on Islamic State militants in Syria, a media report said on Wednesday.

The airline made the decision after the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an advisory last week saying the missiles could pose a risk to passenger planes, the South China Morning Post reported.

“In view of the situation in the region, Cathay Pacific suspended all flights over Iran and the Caspian Sea since last Thursday until further notice,” a spokesperson told the Post. “We continue to monitor and review the situation on a daily basis.”

Flights CX293 and CX292 – to and from Rome – are currently being routed over northern China, towards Moscow, and Air France has also rerouted their flights away from the danger zones.

This comes as Dutch investigators on Tuesday released the conclusions of their probe into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 last year over eastern Ukraine. It found a Russian-made Buk missile brought down the plane, killing all 298 people on board.

Cathay Pacific told the Post it was a long-term policy to avoid flying over Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria.