KLM Resumes Flights Over Iranian Airspace

EghtesadOnline: Dutch carrier KLM announced Thursday it will resume flights over Iran, about two weeks after it and several other airlines barred flights in the airspace after Tehran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner.

News ID: ۷۴۹۵۳۷

25 January 2020

"KLM uses a security management system to analyze risks and thus determine safe flight paths," it said, according to Financial Tribune.

KLM noted that such analyses substantiated that it is once again safe to fly over Iran and Iraq, UPI reported.

"The British and German governments have also issued a notice to airmen, stating that commercial airlines can once again fly safely over Iran and Iraq. Furthermore, on [Jan. 16], the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a notification that it would be safe to fly above Iran at an altitude of more than 25,000 feet," the Netherlands-based flag carrier announced.

Malaysia Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, China Airlines and Qantas are among those that barred flights over Iran earlier this month.

Iranian and Iraqi airspace is commonly used by major airlines for routes that connect Europe and Southeast Asia.

However, Qatar Airways, Emirates and several other Persian Gulf airlines have kept flying in Iraqi and Iranian airspace, and to cities in both countries.