In the last few hours, airspace in Israel, Jordan & Iraq have reopened following the attacks made by Iran overnight.
The airspace closures caused significant disruption to traffic in the Middle East.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Recap of Last Night’s Events in Israel, Jordan & Iraq…
Below is a recap of what happened in the airspace of Israel, Jordan & Iraq by Iran, courtesy of the live coverage provided by us at AviationSource:
- Proceedings started with massive levels of GPS Jamming all over Israel.
- Jordan was affected by such jamming, which resulted in their airspace being temporarily closed.
- Diversions and final arrivals into the likes of Amman, Tel Aviv & Baghdad occurred.
- Israel then closed it’s airspace after Jordan ahead of attacks by Iranian drones and missiles which were enroute.
- Lebanon and Egypt then closed their airspace also – Egypt’s was partial and to the east of the country.
- Erbil International Airport was attacked, as well as Al-Asad Airbase.
Around three to four hours ago, airspace ins Israel, Jordan & Iraq began to open up as the barrage of attacks from Iran reduced.
Furthermore, the disruption overnight caused significant diversions across Europe and the Middle East.
Such a notable example came from Istanbul where flights coming from Western airports were unable to pass through airspace.
This included airspace through Israel, Jordan & Iraq.
Other flights from the likes of Dubai, Doha & Bahrain also performed u-turns at the border with Saudi Arabia and the countries listed above.
Will Airspace Stay Open?
Right now, airspace remains open across Israel, Iraq, Jordan and other countries in the Middle East post-Iran attack.
However, those in the intelligence community believe the Israelis are planning a retaliatory attack against Iran.
If this is the case, then we could see the use of GPS jamming & missile launches again, which could shut down airspace again.
Furthermore, disruption from overnight also spilled into this morning as well, with flights continuing to divert for additional fuel.
Overall…
In conclusion, last night’s chain of events caused a severe level of disruption to the commercial aviation industry.
Looking ahead, all eyes will be on what Israel will do in terms of such reaction to Iran, which could include the closure of airspace in their country as well as Iraq & Jordan.
If another closure happens again, then we can expect to see the same theme of disruption that we saw last night.
But for now, all eyes will be on what happens next.
Click the banner to subscribe to our weekly Emergencies and Incidents newsletter.
Click the photo to join our WhatsApp channel so then you can stay up to date with everything going on in the aviation industry!
