The counterattack carried out from Israel towards Iran on the night between 18 and 19 April brought consequences in the airspace above President Raisi’s country. As reported by the portal Safeairspace.netIran has in fact temporarily closed the western part of the flight information region (Fir).
The situation in Iran
Already following the shooting down of Ukraine Int Airlines Flight 752 over Tehran in January 2020, several countries had issued airspace warnings for Iran. Among others, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and France. The United States had issued a blanket flight ban, but everyone else advised against landing or flying over the country at lower flight levels.
The direct attack of Israel in Tehranthe bombing of Esfahn and Tabriz, two large cities located in the center and north of the country where they are located air bases and nuclear sites and other Israeli attacks targeting pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria have therefore raised new concerns about the possibility of Tehran using advanced long-range anti-aircraft weapons during heightened tensions and near international air routes very busy.
Yemen, Syria and the neighborhood
Also Yemen it remains an active conflict zone and the vast majority of the country’s airspace should be avoided, according to risk advisories. In particular, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany prohibit aircraft from flying over any land portion of the Fir. In this sense, the last warning arrived in January, when The United States and the United Kingdom have carried out airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, including on targets close to the capital Sanaa, in response to recent missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea.
It has been ongoing since 2011 a civil war in Syria. Even in that country the risk for civil aircraft is high. Syrian airspace should therefore be completely avoided, as should that adjacent to the Damascus Fir: Cyprus, Türkiye, Israel. This applies to US, UK and German operators an absolute ban on flyingand several other countries have issued similar warnings.
