When a Mumbai-bound flight took an U turn over Türkiye to avoid Iranian airspace during missile attack on Israel

NEW DELHI: Just over three hours into Lufthansa ’s Frankfurt-Mumbai flight on Tuesday, there was a sudden buzz onboard the four-engine Airbus A340 when it was in Turkish airspace .

Half sleepy post lunch passengers watching the live route map realised the aircraft had turned back and was again heading to Black Sea — which it had crossed not so long back on its way to India.

The mystery was solved in a few minutes when the pilot made a detailed announcement that the Iran-Israel conflict had led to Iranian airspace being shut for commercial airliners and that they had no option but to return to Frankfurt for safety reasons, recalled Mumbai-based Lovaii Navlakhi and his wife Arwa who were on this flight.

Around the same time, Iran’s missile attack on Israel had led to multiple flights like Lufthansa’s Frankfurt to Mumbai and Hyderabad and Air France’s Paris-Mumbai returning to their origin as the airspaces of enroute countries like Jordan and Iran were closed.

Mumbai-bound LH 756 was about half an away from entering Iranian airspace when it turned back. The prolonged conflict had given airlines that criss cross the conflict region to prepare what to do in an escalation.

“The pilot’s announcement was very detailed and matter of fact that we need to return due to something beyond their control and for our safety. There was not much hue and cry in the aircraft. The crew explained there will be ground staff at Frankfurt to make alternate travel and hotel arrangements for passengers. That an email with the alternate flights should be in the inbox when we land,” Lovaii Navlakhi, who owns a wealth management company and was returning after a holiday in France, told TOI from Frankfurt on Wednesday.

The most concerned were passengers who were transiting via Frankfurt to return to India and did not have Schengen visas or those whose short term Europe visas had either expired or were about to expire. “The crew said such passengers will need to stay at the airport. And that while beds will be provided at the airport in a separate area, they should take blankets and pillows from the aircraft on landing,” said Lovaii.

The crew asked the couple, who were in premium economy, to take blankets and pillows. They did not need to do so thanks to their Schengen visas.

On return to Frankfurt almost seven hours after taking off from there, passengers lined up for their hotel stay and breakfast vouchers and to know alternate flights. “Lufthansa did a good thing by having a separate counter for families with young children or senior citizens. The staff was overwhelmed by the number of passengers returning as three plane loads were just back in Frankfurt,” he said.

Luckily with Oct 2 a holiday in India, some passengers happily give travel priority for those in a hurry as Lufthansa was sending back people on other airlines, including Vistara, too. The Navlakhi couple are rebooked to fly back on Oct 3 via Munich to Mumbai.

Arwa said: “We have no reason to crib. We were just close to the conflict zone (Iran). Turned back in the nick of time and are safe. The whole thing was handled very well both by the airline and passengers. The captain, crew members and hotel staff have all been wonderful.”