UK, Egypt issue alerts for Iran, Lebanon airspace as risks of military conflict rise

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

Britain's advisory to its airlines to avoid the Lebanese airspace came hours after Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours in the early morning on Thursday.

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

Currently, there are no scheduled flights operated by UK airlines to Lebanon, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

Similarly, Egyptian airlines have already been avoiding the Iranian airspace. Thursday's directive, however, would apply to all Egyptian carriers, including charter operators, other smaller airlines, said Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP - a membership-based organization that shares flight-risk information.

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

The Egyptian NOTAM, a safety notice provided to pilots on Wednesday, said the instruction would be in effect from 0100 to 0400 GMT.

"All Egyptian carriers shall avoid overflying Tehran (Flight Information Region). No flight plan will be accepted overflying such territory," the notice said, referring to the three-hour period specified.

Egypt's civil aviation ministry later confirmed on Wednesday the notice was intended to reduce flight-safety risks in light of a notification it received from Iranian authorities.

"Military exercises will be conducted over Iranian airspace on Aug. 7 from 11:30 to 14:30 and from 4:30 to 7:30 on Aug. 8 Tehran time," the statement said.

The ministry's press statement followed an unnamed source quoted by the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV as saying that Iranian authorities had said to avoid flying in Iranian airspace because of "military exercises."

Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani spoke with the Egyptian foreign minister by phone on Wednesday, according to Iranian foreign ministry's website.

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

Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their airspace earlier this year amidst aerial attacks on Israel.