Braced for air strikes on Syria, some
airlines re-route flights
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[April 11, 2018]
By Jamie Freed
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Some major airlines
were re-routing flights on Wednesday after Europe's air traffic control
agency warned aircraft flying in the eastern Mediterranean to exercise
caution due to possible air strikes on Syria.
Eurocontrol said in a notification published on Tuesday afternoon that
air-to-ground and cruise missiles could be used over the following 72
hours and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption to radio
navigation equipment.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Western allies are discussing possible
military action to punish Syria's President Bashar Assad for a suspected
poison gas attack on Saturday on a rebel-held town that had long held
out against government forces.
A spokeswoman for Air France said the airline had changed some flights
paths following the warning, including for Beirut and Tel Aviv flights,
while budget airline easyJet said it would also re-route flights from
Tel Aviv.

Aviation regulators have been stepping up monitoring of conflict zones
since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed by a surface-to-air
missile over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
Recent warnings have tended to be after military action has started, and
so Eurocontrol's pre-emptive notice suggests a heightening of regulatory
scrutiny.
Trump on Tuesday canceled a planned trip to Latin America later this
week to focus on responding to the Syria incident, the White House said.
Trump on Monday warned of a quick, forceful response once responsibility
for the attack was established.
The Eurocontrol warning on its website did not specify the origin of any
potential missile threat.
"Due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria with air-to-ground
and/or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of
intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration
needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern
Mediterranean/Nicosia FIR area," it said, referring to the designated
airspace.
Aviation regulators in countries including the United States, Britain,
France and Germany have previously issued warnings against airlines
entering Syrian airspace, leading most carriers to avoid the area.
The only commercial flights above Syria as of 0115 GMT on Wednesday were
being flown by Syrian Air and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines, according
to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. At other periods later in the
day, there were no flights using the airspace.
HEIGHTENED SURVEILLANCE
Eurocontrol included a broader area outside the airspace controlled by
Damascus in its statement.

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The logo of Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic regulator, is seen on
the facade of its headquarters in Brussels July 18, 2014.
REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

A spokesman for Germany's Lufthansa said on Wednesday its airlines were
aware of the Eurocontrol warning and were in close contact with
authorities.
"As a proactive precaution, Lufthansa Group airlines have already
avoided the airspace in the eastern Mediterranean for some time
now," he said.
Ryanair and British Airways representatives said flights were
operating normally at their respective airlines, but the situation
was being monitored closely.
A spokesman for Etihad Airways said the Gulf carrier continued to
maintain high levels of surveillance across its network, but
services to all destinations were "operating normally."
EgyptAir is not currently planning changes to flight paths following
the warning, a source close to the matter said.
Israel's flag carrier El Al declined to comment. EgyptAir and
several other major airlines that fly in the area did not respond
immediately to a request for comment.
The Nicosia flight information region named in the Eurocontrol
statement covers the island of Cyprus and surrounding waters,
according to a map on the agency's website.
The same map did not designate any specific territory as being the
"Eastern Mediterranean" region.
Last year, North Korea tested missiles without warning, leading some
airlines to re-route flights to avoid portions of the Sea of Japan.
Eurocontrol's warning cited a document from the European Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA), Europe's safety regulator.
EASA warned of a danger to aircraft flying over Iran, Iraq, and the
Caspian sea in October 2015 after Russia fired cruise missiles at
Syrian targets from the Caspian Sea.

An EASA spokesman said it had informed member states and Eurocontrol
of its cautionary message on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Jamie Freed in SINGAPORE; additional reporting by
Victoria Bryan in HAMBURG, Alexander Cornwell in DUBAI, Sarah Young
in LONDON, Conor Humphries in DUBLIN, Tova Cohen in Tel Aviv and
CAIRO Bureau; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel and Mark
Potter)
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