Etihad Airways to avoid Iraqi conflict airspace

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways announced on Saturday (Aug 9) that it will reroute flights over Iraq in the wake of US air strikes on Islamist State (IS) fighters there. "Etihad Airways has announced that it will reroute its flights to avoid conflict airspace in Iraq," a statement by the carrier said.

"The decision follows the deterioration of the security situation in parts of the country. The safety of Etihad Airways' passengers and staff is of paramount importance, and the airline will continue to monitor the security situation closely."

On Thursday, Etihad also said it was suspending flights to Iraqi Kurdistan's capital of Arbil because of fighting in northern Iraq. The first US air strikes on Friday struck IS positions and at least one convoy of vehicles carrying militants west of Arbil. However, "flights to Basra and Baghdad, which have a daily risk assessment, continue to operate as normal," Etihad said on Saturday.

Dubai's Emirates Airline also announced on Saturday that it has "immediately" suspended its flights to Arbil due to the "security situation there," in a statement carried by the UAE's official WAM news agency. Daily flights to Basra and four weekly flights to Baghdad will however continue, the airline said, adding that it is "closely following developments" in restive Iraq.

Emirates had already announced last month that it will no longer fly over Iraq.

The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington banned all US civilian flights over Iraq just hours after American warplanes on Friday bombed positions held by the jihadists, who have occupied swathes of northern Iraq.

British Airways has said it will no longer fly over Iraq, as have Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss - joining Air France, Emirates, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, which quietly opted to do so over the past two weeks.

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British Airways suspends flights over Iraq

British Airways (BA) suspended flights over Iraq on Friday (Aug 8) as the US launched air strikes against Islamic militants fighting in the north of the country.

A spokesman for Britain's flagship carrier said it was "temporarily suspending our flights over Iraq".

But BA said services that use the route, mainly to Doha and Dubai, would not be cancelled or disrupted because alternative routes would be found.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA parent group International Airlines Group, last week pledged to keep flying over Iraq despite mounting concerns over commercial flight paths in the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine.

The airline said then it did not believe the conflict in Iraq between government forces and jihadist group Islamic State (IS) posed the same threat to commercial airliners. But it took its decision to suspend flights after the Federal Aviation Administration banned all US civilian flights over Iraq on Friday (Aug 8), just hours after Washington ordered air strikes on fighters in Kurdistan.

The FAA cited "the potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict" between IS militants and Iraqi security forces "and their allies" as the reason for the indefinite ban.

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FAA bans US civilian flights over Iraq

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned all US civilian flights over Iraq on Friday (Aug 8), just hours after air strikes ordered by Washington on Islamist fighters.

In a Notice to Airmen, the FAA cited the "potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict" between Islamic State militants and Iraqi security forces and their allies as the reason for the indefinite ban. The ban extends to "all US air carriers and commercial operators," as well as US-licensed pilots unless they are flying aircraft registered in the United States for a foreign operator.

Northern and eastern Iraq lie on the flight path for several non-American long-haul carriers operating between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, according to online flight tracking services.

Concern about civilian flights over conflict zones soared after the July 17 downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur above an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatist rebels.

Turkish Airlines, one of the key foreign carriers flying to Iraq, said it had halted flights to the main city of Iraq's Kurdish region for security reasons amid the Islamist offensive.

"Our flights to Arbil are being cancelled for security reasons until further notice," the airline said in a statement.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways on Thursday (Aug 7) also announced a suspension of flights to Arbil, while Britain has urged citizens living in parts of Kurdistan to leave.

US warplanes earlier bombed positions held by Islamic State insurgents who have advanced to take swathes of northern Iraq.

Last month, the FAA prohibited US airlines from overflying eastern Ukraine in the wake of the Malaysian Airlines tragedy. It also briefly barred them from Tel Aviv after a Hamas rocket fell near the Israeli city's Ben Gurion airport in the midst of the Gaza crisis.

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Qantas to continue flying over Iraq

Australian airline Qantas on Tuesday (July 29) said it would continue flying over Iraqi airspace, despite alliance partner Emirates deciding to alter its routes over concerns about jihadist missile attacks following the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

Qantas said while it no longer flew over Syria or Ukraine over fears their airspace could be "unsafe", "there is no information to suggest that there is risk to commercial aircraft passing over Iraq, particularly at the altitudes we fly".

"Qantas is one of many airlines that currently flies over parts of Iraq en route to Europe," the airline's chief pilot Dick Tobiano said in a statement. The carrier said its average altitude over the Middle East region was about 38,000 to 41,000 feet, far exceeding the US Federal Aviation Administration's recommendation of above 20,000 feet.

"Qantas would never compromise its passengers or crew by flying over an area if we thought it was unsafe," Tobiano said. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make any changes needed to ensure the safety of our passengers."

The risks of overflying combat zones has taken centre stage following the deaths of 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 after it was apparently shot down by a missile above rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Emirates' president Tim Clark told London's The Times newspaper in an interview published on Monday his airline would stop flying over Iraq. He also predicted that other carriers would re-route their flights.

"This is a political animal but ... the fact of the matter is MH17 changed everything, and that was very nearly in European airspace," Clark said.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways said in a statement it would continue to fly over Iraq at this stage, adding that the "nature of the current security environment in Iraq is significantly different than in the Ukraine".

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Emirates airline says it will not fly over Iraq

Emirates will stop flying over Iraq due to concerns over missile attacks following the MH17 air disaster in Ukraine, the airline's president Tim Clark told The Times on Monday (July 28).

Almost 300 people aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 died when it came down in eastern Ukraine nearly two weeks ago, with Washington and Europe claiming it was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Moscow militants.

"This is a political animal but... the fact of the matter is MH17 changed everything, and that was very nearly in European airspace," Clark told The Times in an interview published on Monday. "We cannot continue to say, 'Well it's a political thing'. We have to do something. We have to take the bull by the horns."

Clark predicted other carriers would also decide to stop flying over Iraq, as the global airline industry reviews the risk of overflying combat zones.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777 aircraft, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people aboard on July 17 when it was downed close to the village of Grabove, in the rebellion-wracked region of Donetsk in east Ukraine.

"The horrors that this created was a kick in the solar plexus for all of us," Clark told the daily paper. "Nevertheless having got through it we must take stock and deal with it."

On Sunday meanwhile, the commercial director of Malaysia Airlines called for a complete overhaul of the way flight paths are deemed safe following the plane's downing by a suspected missile. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Hugh Dunleavy said the disaster would have "an unprecedented impact on the aviation industry", claiming that airlines can no longer depend on aviation authorities for reliable information about flying over conflict zones.

"For too long, airlines have been shouldering the responsibility for making decisions about what constitutes a safe flight path, over areas in political turmoil around the world," he wrote. "We are not intelligence agencies, but airlines, charged with carrying passengers in comfort between destinations."

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