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FAA Bars U.S. Carriers from Syrian Airspace

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The ban follows a period in which airlines could request permission to route over Syria.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) previously required all United States airlines wishing to route flights through Syrian airspace to request permission. No carriers requested that permission, so the FAA issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) closing Syrian airspace to commercial flights.

“Based on an updated assessment of the risk associated with such operations and the lack of any requests from operators wishing to fly in this airspace, we believe it prudent to prohibit U.S. operators from flying into, out of and over Syria,” the agency said in a press release issued Monday alongside the NOTAM.

The NOTAM is the latest update to regulations governing flights by United States carriers traveling over war zones. It is one of many policies put in place following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was operating in an approved airspace over the conflict zone near the Ukraine-Russia border when it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile last month.

At the time, the FAA had restrictions covering parts of Ukraine and Russia, but the agency had not released a NOTAM for the airspace where MH17 was shot down. Following the incident, the agency said it was “monitoring the situation to determine whether further guidance is necessary” and that United States carriers had “voluntarily agreed” not to operate in the border’s airspace.

Expanding on the NOTAM, the FAA provided a laundry list of valid reasons for commercial aircraft to stay out of Syrian airspace. A segment of the press release read:

The ongoing armed conflict and volatile security environment in Syria poses a serious potential threat to civil aviation. Armed extremist groups in Syria are known to be equipped with a variety of anti-aircraft weapons which have the capability to threaten civilian aircraft. Opposition groups have successfully shot down Syrian military aircraft using these anti-aircraft weapon systems during the course of the conflict. Opposition elements have previously warned civilian air carriers against providing service to Syria. Due to the presence of anti-aircraft weapons among the extremist groups and ongoing fighting in various locations throughout Syria, there is a continuing significant potential threat to civil aviation operating in Syrian airspace.

In addition to Monday’s ban on flights over Syria, the FAA recently issued or amended NOTAMs pertaining to airspace over conflict zones in Iraq and Ukraine. Major carriers based in the United States, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines, have their own policies in place restricting flights through the aforementioned conflict zones.

[Photo: iStock]

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