Egypt issues alerts for Iran, Lebanon airspace, Canada pulls children of diplomats out of Israel
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Egypt's civil aviation ministry said it had received notification from Iranian officials of military exercises being conducted over Iranian airspace.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Britain and Egypt asked their airlines on Aug 7 to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace amid growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the region after senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah were killed.
Britain’s advisory to its airlines to avoid Lebanon’s airspace came hours after Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iran’s airspace for three hours in the early morning on Aug 8.
Many airlines are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, while also calling off flights to Israel and Lebanon.
Flights through conflict zones became a prominent industry safety issue a decade ago after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down
US-based United Airlines said on Aug 7 its flights to Tel Aviv, which were paused on July 31 due to security concerns, remained suspended.
“We continue to closely monitor the situation and will focus on the safety of our customers and crews as we decide when to resume service,” the airline said.
Its rival Delta Air Lines has paused its flights between New York and Tel Aviv through Aug 31.
British carriers are not flying to Lebanon currently, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.
Singapore Airlines stopped flying through Iranian airspace on Aug 2 and is using alternative routes, saying safety is its top priority.
Similarly, Egyptian airlines have already been avoiding Iran’s airspace.
The new directive applies to all Egyptian carriers, including charter operators and other smaller airlines, said Mr Mark Zee, founder of OPSGroup, a membership-based organisation that shares flight-risk information.
Egypt’s Notam, a safety notice provided to pilots, said the instruction would be in effect from 1am to 4am GMT (9am to noon, Singapore time).
“All Egyptian carriers shall avoid overflying Tehran (Flight Information Region). No flight plan will be accepted overflying such territory,” the notice said, referring to the three-hour period specified.
Egypt’s civil aviation ministry later confirmed on Aug 7 the notice was intended to reduce flight-safety risks in light of a notification it received from Iranian authorities.
“Military exercises will be conducted over Iranian airspace on Aug 7 from 11.30 to 14.30 and from 4.30 to 7.30 on Aug 8 Tehran time,” the statement said.
The ministry’s press statement followed an unnamed source quoted by the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV as saying that Iranian authorities had said to avoid flying in Iranian airspace because of “military exercises”.
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani spoke with the Egyptian foreign minister by phone on Aug 7, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website.
In 2020, Iranian air defence units said they mistakenly shot down Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752, killing all 176 people on board, shortly after the aircraft took off from Tehran airport.
At the time, they were on heightened alert because of increased tensions with the United States.
On Aug 4, the Jordanian authorities asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes’ worth of extra fuel.
Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their airspace earlier in the year amid aerial attacks on Israel.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government said on Aug 7 it has decided to pull the children and guardians of its diplomats out of Israel, amid fears of a widened conflict in the Middle East, the Canadian Press reported.
Global Affairs Canada, in a statement cited in the Canadian Press, said it has approved the temporary relocation of the diplomats’ children and their guardians to a safe third country.
It added that diplomats stationed in Ramallah in the West Bank and in Beirut do not have dependants living with them.
Canada on Aug 3 warned citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, citing the ongoing regional conflict and unpredictable security situation. It also urged its citizens to not travel to Gaza and the West Bank.
The embassies in Tel Aviv and Beirut and the representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank “all remain fully operational and continue to provide essential services to Canadians”, the Canadian government said in the statement cited by the Canadian Press.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct 7, 2023, when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel,
The Gaza Health Ministry says that since then, Israel’s military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and leading to accusations of genocide, which Israel denies. REUTERS
