Flight Path from Europe to Southeast Asia is One Big No-Fly-Zone

When Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, there was talk that airlines should not have flown over conflicted regions where security is on the edge. Hindsight is always 20-20 as they say. The thing is that while flying at over 10km above sea level has always been considered safe even over those restive regions because supposedly only state actors have access to surface to air missiles capable of reaching commercial jet cruise altitude. Thus, states are presumed to be competent and responsible.

So if the problem are the rebels and insurgents with the lands they occupy, then flying over Central Asia is trickier than you would think. One critical region which the main Asia-Europe highway in the sky traverses is the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the area of eternal turmoil. Do they have those long range surface-to-air missiles? Do they know how to use it? Nobody really knew the eastern Ukrainian rebels could do what they did. If we were to apply complete no-fly-zones on all these conflict regions, airplanes have to take the scenic route on their transcontinental journey. Scenic routes are not cheap. 

A few things to note on the map. Climbing over the Himalayas is a no-no for commercial planes because it is too risky with the small aircraft to ground clearance with the mountain and horrendous turbulence. The Middle East and the Central Asia is rife with insurgencies. A straight route from Europe to Asia would take any commercial flight path over a number of these war zones. Diverting planes around these regions is like navigating around a maze and is not the answer. The downing of MH17 is the betrayal of the trust that no individual or group should ever attack a tin can full of innocents 33,000 feet in the air. May God bless their souls.