Western governments believe the Boeing 777 cruising at 33,000ft from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by Russian-backed separatists using a surface-to-air missile.
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The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a safety bulletin to airlines and authorities regarding Iranian and Iraqi airspace after Russian warships in the Caspian Sea last week fired cruise missiles toward Syria.
But Malaysian Airlines came in for criticicism after the downing of MH17 because it had continued to fly over the Ukraine-Russia border despite warnings.
Airlines have been warned of the risks posed by low-flying missiles over Iran and Iraq. Although USA officials reportedly told CNN that four of the missiles landed in Iran, Russia’s defense ministry denied the accusation, insisting that all of them hit their targets.
EASA said the missiles were “below flight routes which are used by commercial transport aeroplanes”. Cruise missiles generally travel below 600ft.
The European Aviation Safety Agency noted the launches of missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea, though it didn’t recommend that airlines avoid flying there, according to a safety bulletin Friday on its website.
The worldwide Civil Aviation Organisation, the UN’s air safety arm said a few airlines had already opted to fly alternative routes. Several were filmed flying in daylight at low altitude across Iraq.
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Lufthansa said it had made no changes to flight paths across the region, and said it saw no reason to do so given the available information.
