Days after President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iran’s Qasem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, tensions between the US and Iran have started to impact aviation across the Middle East region.
The skies above Baghdad, the location of the air strikes, are home to incredibly busy airways within the Baghdad FIR. The overflight above this area (the number of passenger jets passing through en route to/from Middle East or Asia) has increased dramatically since the reopening in 2017, meaning on a regular day you can expect major airlines, low-cost carriers, private jets and more to be flying directly over Baghdad.
This week, Germany has already issued a NOTAM (a notice to ‘airmen’ ± flight crew) stating that there is a potential risk to the safety of passenger jets flying below 26,000ft in the Baghdad area. For all airlines, safety and security of passengers and crew remains the priority — however, with circumstances such as the current tensions, each airline is likely to conduct a risk assessment that differs in results given their different metrics, and also interpretation of the current situation.
Bahrain’s Gulf Air has suspended all flights to Baghdad and Najaf, Iraq, citing “safety and security issues.” Gulf Air will operate special ‘evacuation flights’ to Iraq in order to evacuate Bahraini nationals ‘stuck’ in the country since the escalation of tensions.
EgyptAir has suspended flights to Iraq’s capital for three days, also citing safety and security concerns.
Royal Jordanian Airlines has now resumed flights after it suspended all flights to Baghdad due to “the unstable security situation in the city and at the airport.”
Flynas has suspended all flights to Baghdad, until further notice.
Airline giants including Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Emirates continue to operate their Iraqi routes. Qatar Airways say: “As the safety of our passengers and employees is of the highest importance, Qatar Airways continues to closely monitor the situation in Iraq and we are currently operating normal scheduled services.”
Despite the global tensions, and fresh concerns over possible escalations, the skies above Baghdad remain busy with commercial air traffic.
British Airways, Qantas, KLM and other major carriers have decided to avoid flying over either Iraq, Iran, or in some cases — both, until tensions calm down. The airlines are citing security concerns.
Elsewhere in the region, a Ukraine International Airlines 737 crashed shortly after departure from Tehran. It’s currently not known what caused the crash — with almost 180 people onboard.
* The author is an aviation analyst. Twitter handle: @AlexInAir
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/37LsJjf
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