The Federal Aviation Administration loosened its restrictions forbidding U.S. commercial aircraft from flying over Afghanistan, though airlines have been hesitant to capitalize on the policy change.

The FAA announced late last month, nearly two years after the United States left Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban, that flights above 32,000 feet “may resume due to diminished risks to U.S. civil aviation operations at those altitudes.”

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With the Taliban having run the U.S.-backed government out of power in August 2021, civil aviation ceased due to concerns about the possible use of anti-aircraft missiles to take planes down.

Safe Airspace, a conflict zone and risk database, argues that air traffic should still navigate around the country because "the primary risks are direct and indirect fire targeting airports and from surface-to-air fire targeting aircraft operating at low altitudes. Additionally, the conflict has resulted in no [air traffic control] service across the country's airspace and an extreme threat to aircraft and crew safety and security on the ground."

Some airlines have begun flying over the Wakhan Corridor, which is a sparsely populated panhandle that extends between Tajikistan and Pakistan, the Associated Press reported. United Airlines has a nonstop flight to New Delhi from Newark, New Jersey, which has a flight path that includes flying over the Wakhan Corridor, though the roughly 14-hour flight could be shortened if flown over the main parts of Afghanistan instead of mainly going around it.

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“In accordance with current FAA rules, United operates Newark to New Delhi flights over a small section of Afghanistan where air traffic control is provided by other countries,” United spokesman Josh Freed told the Associated Press. “We do not plan to expand our use of Afghan airspace at this time.”

Other airlines, including American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Air India, also fly over the Wakhan Corridor.