British Airways flights will continue to fly over Iraq despite concerns over the threat of Islamic militants on the ground, its chief executive has said.
Willie Walsh, head of BA parent company International Airlines Group, told the Financial Times: “We fly over Iraq because we consider it safe. If we thought Iraq was unsafe we would not fly over Iraq.”
Qantas has become the latest airline to say it will divert aircraft to avoid flying through Iraqi airspace.
BA said it would be reviewing its decision on a daily basis.
The airline said flights from the UK to destinations including Dubai and Doha would normally cross Iraqi airspace, the BBC reported.
“Our flight plans vary depending on a number of factors but our highest and first priority is always the safety of our crew and customers,” BA said in a statement.
Walsh told the FT some customers would find it “confusing” that airlines had taken different positions on Iraq.
But he said airlines should be able to carry out their own risk assessments about flying over warzones because they had different operations and aircraft.
There is fresh focus on the routes taken by airlines following the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine last month.
BA has been avoiding the airspace over eastern Ukraine for several months.