Malaysia Airlines jet was travelling outside no-fly zone

Despite months of fighting between government forces and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, until Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed many carriers were flying over the disputed area because the air space has been a core route between Europe and Asia.

About 400 flights a day passed over the region, including passenger jets operated by Air France-KLM and Lufthansa.

However, it has emerged that British Airways and Qantas stopped flying over eastern Ukraine well before the MH17 crash on Thursday, highlighting how airlines took very different assessments about the potential dangers of flying over the troubled territory. Analysts and industry insiders said this may reflect more risk averse cultures at British Airways and Qantas.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities, which placed a complete ban on flying over eastern Ukraine immediately after the MH17 crash, are braced for questions about whether they should have taken such action much sooner.

These authorities introduced restrictions on passenger jets flying below 26,000ft in eastern Ukraine on July 1, and then raised the threshold to 32,000ft on Monday, according to Eurocontrol, the umbrella organisation for air traffic control across Europe, which said these steps were taken after attacks on military aircraft.

But Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine boasted at the end of last month about possessing an anti-aircraft missile with a range of more than 20km – and therefore capable of hitting MH17, which was flying at 33,000ft when it disappeared from radar at 1.30pm local time. Ukrainian officials claimed it was this Russian-made Buk missile that shot down MH17.

Chris Yates, an aviation analyst, said the Ukrainian authorities should have imposed a complete no-fly zone in eastern Ukraine after the Russian separatists began attacking military aircraft.

These attacks began several months ago, and Mr Yates said: “Immediately there was any degree of threat to military aircraft there should have been a complete ban on civil aviation in that air space.”

However, he said airlines should not be criticised for flying over eastern Ukraine because this had been allowed by the Ukrainian authorities. “One cannot blame them for choosing the most optimal route between two points,” said Mr Yates.

British Airways stopped flying over eastern Ukraine some time before the MH17 crash, said one person familiar with the situation.

The UK flag carrier is likely to have flown longer routes, and incurred higher fuel bills, by avoiding eastern Ukraine in recent days during trips from London to Asian cities such as Bangkok, although British Airways declined to comment on this.

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The downing of Flight MH17

It said: “The safety and security of our customers is always our top priority. Our flights are not using Ukrainian airspace, with the exception of our once-a-day service between Heathrow and Kiev.”

Qantas Airways stopped flying over Ukraine several months ago when the situation on the ground became unsettled.

Lufthansa defended its decision to continue flying over eastern Ukraine until the MH17 crash, highlighting how it was allowed by the Ukrainian authorities.

“Every airline selects the routes that are the most energy efficient and which offer the shortest flight time, but we would never make a trade off between operational safety and cost,” added the German airline group.

Air France-KLM’s French and Dutch carriers both operated flights over eastern Ukraine until the MH17 crash. Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines have been rerouting flights away from the area.

Emirates Airline, the Dubai-based carrier, decided on Thursday to suspend flights to Kiev, partly because of security concerns. However, it stressed the decision to suspend flights was announced in June, because of falling demand for travel on this route.

Eurocontrol has convened a crisis group to determine how to handle the impact of the air space closure in eastern Ukraine.

The US Federal Aviation Administration stopped short of ordering US carriers to cease flying over eastern Ukraine but airlines agreed voluntarily on Thursday to avoid the area.

The FAA had issued an order to carriers in April telling them to avoid flying over Crimea, parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, but not eastern Ukraine.

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