UK, Egypt issue alerts over Iran, Lebanon airspace amid rising Middle East tensions

• Egypt instructs all its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace.
• The NOTAM says the advisory will be in effect from 100 to 400 GMT.
• Egypt’s ministry says the NOTAM was issued in light of Iran’s notification.
  

LONDON: Egypt and Britain asked their airlines on Wednesday to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace amid growing fears of a possible wider conflict in the region after the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah members.

Britain’s advice to its airlines to avoid Lebanese airspace came hours after Egypt ordered all its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours early Thursday.

Many airlines are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, while also suspending flights to Israel and Lebanon.

There are currently no scheduled flights from UK airlines to Lebanon, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24.

Similarly, Egyptian airlines have already avoided Iranian airspace. Thursday’s directive, however, will apply to all Egyptian carriers, including charter companies, other smaller airlines, said Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP – a membership-based organization that shares information about flight risk.

So far on Thursday, no other country had issued such a directive regarding Iranian airspace, Zee added.

Egypt’s NOTAM, a safety alert issued to pilots on Wednesday, said the directive would be in effect from 01:00 to 04:00 GMT.

“All Egyptian air carriers will avoid flying over Tehran (Flight Information Area). No flight plans will be accepted over such territory,” the statement said, referring to the three-hour fixed period.

Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed later on Wednesday that the notice was intended to reduce risks to flight safety in light of a notification it received from Iranian authorities.

“Military exercises will be held in Iranian airspace on August 7 from 11:30 to 14:30 and from 4:30 to 7:30 on August 8 Tehran time,” the statement said.

The ministry’s press statement followed an unnamed source cited by the state agency Al Qahera News TV saying Iranian authorities told them to avoid flying in Iranian airspace because of “military exercises”.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Khani spoke by phone with the Egyptian foreign minister on Wednesday, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website.

On Sunday, Jordanian authorities asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes of extra fuel.

Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their airspace earlier this year amid Israeli airstrikes.