Egypt and the UK have issued directives to their respective airlines to avoid the airspace of Iran and Lebanon, amidst rising concerns of a potential broader conflict in the region following the killing of senior leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah.
The British guidance came shortly after Egypt instructed all its airlines to steer clear of Iranian airspace for three hours early Thursday morning.
Many airlines are now revising their schedules to bypass both Iranian and Lebanese airspace and are cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon.
According to the flight tracking website Flight Radar 24, there are currently no scheduled flights operated by British Airlines to Lebanon.
Similarly, Egyptian airlines have already begun avoiding Iranian airspace. However, Mark Zee, the founder of OPS Group, which shares flight risk information, noted that the notice for Thursday will apply to all Egyptian airlines including charter and smaller carriers. Zee added that no other country has issued such a directive regarding Iranian airspace.
The Egyptian notice to pilots, a safety notification issued on Wednesday, stated that the guidance would be effective from 0100 to 0400 GMT. The notice did not specify the reason for its issuance.
It read, “All Egyptian air carriers must avoid flying over the Tehran Flight Information Region. No flight will be accepted over this area during the specified three hours.”
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry later confirmed that the notice aims to reduce risks to flight safety in light of the notification received from Iranian authorities.
The ministry’s statement revealed, “Military exercises in Iranian airspace will occur on August 7 from 11:30 to 14:30, and from 04:30 to 07:30 on August 8, Tehran time.”
The ministry’s announcement followed a report by Cairo News Channel, a state-owned media outlet, citing an official Egyptian source on Wednesday that Tehran had advised civil airlines worldwide to avoid flying through Iranian airspace due to “military exercises.”
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website, the acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani spoke with the Egyptian Foreign Minister by phone on Wednesday.
Jordanian authorities also advised all airlines arriving at their airports on Sunday to carry an additional 45 minutes’ worth of fuel. Earlier this year, several Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, closed their airspaces amid aerial attacks on Israel.
