‘No zero-risk flight paths remain over Middle East’

Aviation group warns of dangers ranging from attacks by Houthi rebels to overloads of air traffic control systems

- SIMON CALDER

A flight operations group has warned that the conflict in the Middle East is presenting serious challenges for pilots navigating the airspace around Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Iran

Passenger aviation has never been safer but “there simply is no ‘risk-zero’ route available”, says Ops Group, an international organisation for pilots and other aviation staff.

The group has published a blog called Dod ng Danger: The

Three Routes Through the Middle East. The writer, Chris Shieff, says: “It no longer seems to be a simple question of ‘is this route safe?’ but instead, of one’s own appetite for known risks.”

The article analyses the three routes that are currently being used by major airlines: south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, central via Turkey and eastern Iraq, or north over the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan.