Global aviation officials to issue safety alerts to airlines operating over Iraq, Iran, and Caspian Sea

Baku. 12 October. REPORT.AZ/ Russia’s long-range missile strikes against targets in Syria last week have prompted global aviation officials to issue safety alerts to airlines operating over Iraq, Iran, and the Caspian Sea amid heightened concerns about the risk to commercial flying near conflict zones, Report informs Wall Street Journal writes. 

Russia’s firing of cruise missiles against Syrian targets from the Caspian Sea and the broader regional conflict led the United Nations’ aviation arm and the agency that oversees European airspace to issue parallel warnings about potential serious risks to flights traversing a region that includes busy routes linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 

The International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.N.’s air-safety arm, said Friday it had been informed that some carriers had opted to take alternative routes.

Early Sunday, aircraft continued to cross the Caspian Sea and the busy north-south route over western Iran that connects the big three Persian Gulf airport hubs to Europe and the U.S., according to Flightradar24, an online airline tracking service. However, it also flagged a shift by airlines to direct more aircraft over Saudi Arabia and Egypt rather than Iran.