- Egypt orders all its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace.
- NOTAM says the instruction would be in effect between 100 and 400 GMT.
- The Egyptian Ministry says the NOTAM was issued in view of the Iranian notification.
LONDON: Egypt and Britain on Wednesday asked their airlines to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace amid growing fears of a possible wider conflict in the region following the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah members.
Britain's warning to its airlines to avoid Lebanese airspace came hours after Egypt ordered all its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours early on Thursday.
Many airlines are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, and are also cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon.
There are currently no scheduled flights operated by UK airlines to Lebanon, according to the flight tracking website. Flight Radar24.
Similarly, Egyptian airlines have already been avoiding Iranian airspace. However, Thursday’s directive would apply to all Egyptian airlines, including charter operators and other smaller airlines, said Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares information on flight risks.
Until Thursday, no other country had issued a similar directive on Iranian airspace, Zee aggregate.
The Egyptian NOTAM, a safety notice provided to pilots on Wednesday, said the instruction would be in effect from 01:00 to 04:00 GMT.
“All Egyptian airlines must avoid flying over Tehran (Flight Information Region). Any flight plan over the said territory will not be accepted,” the notice said, referring to the three-hour period specified.
Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed later on Wednesday that the notice was aimed at reducing flight safety risks in light of a notification it received from Iranian authorities.
“Military exercises will be held over Iranian airspace on August 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on August 8 from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Tehran time,” the statement said.
The ministry's press release followed an anonymous source cited by the state-affiliated newspaper. Al Qahera News Channel saying that Iranian authorities had told them to avoid flying in Iranian airspace due to “military exercises.”
Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani spoke by phone with the Egyptian foreign minister on Wednesday, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry website.
On Sunday, Jordanian authorities asked all airlines landing at their airports to carry 45 minutes' worth of extra fuel.
Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their airspace earlier this year amid airstrikes against Israel.
