Egypt: Military exercises cause airlines to be asked to avoid Iran’s airspace

This is due to a warning from Iran to all airlines flying over the country about military exercises on Wednesday and Thursday, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday evening.

In a notice to aviation operators earlier in the day, the Egyptian authorities write that all the country’s airlines must stay away from Iranian airspace during the following time periods: Between 1pm and 4pm on Wednesday and Thursday between 3am and 6am Norwegian time.

– No travel plans that include overflights of the area will be approved, the notice further states.

Fear of Iranian counterattack

The warning was issued while relations between Israel and Iran were very tense. It is expected that Iran will respond to the fact that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a supposed Israeli attack in Iran’s capital Tehran recently.

Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani says on Wednesday that their response “will come at the right time and in an appropriate form”.

Opsgroup, a company that advises airlines, says such a notice from Egypt is “very unusual”.

– It is possible that this is a signal of an Iranian response to Israel, and in that sense a potentially large series of disturbances in the airspace at the same time. There could also be another reason, says the company.

Fuel reserve

Many airlines have changed routes to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, and many have canceled flights to Israel and Lebanon due to the troubled situation in the region.

On Sunday, Jordan asked all airlines arriving in the country to have a fuel reserve for 45 minutes of extra flight time.