Air France has suspended flights over the Red Sea after receiving a safety-concerning report from one of its pilots flying the airline’s aircraft above Sudan.
Spotting a luminous object
According to a statement the airline issued to AFP, as reported by the French outlet La Tribune, it confirmed that as a precautionary move, it has suspended flights over the Red Sea for the time being.
The report added that while some routes have been modified to avoid the body of water, other flights had to turnback to Paris, France, before departing again from the French capital to the same destination.
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Air France added that the safety of its pilots, flight attendants, and passengers was paramount, and as such, it constantly monitored the security situation of its aircraft, which were flying to or using certain countries’ airspaces.
The European Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA) has several active conflict zone information bulletins (CZIBs), including for countries located within the Red Sea basin.
This includes Israel, Sudan, and Yemen, with the European regulator also issuing the bulletins for such African countries as Libya, Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan.
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The regulators’ actions came after Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel on October 1.
Avoiding Yemen
The CZIB about Yemen’s airspace recommended carriers avoid operations in the airspace of the Sana’a flight information region (FIR) at all altitudes and flight levels, with exceptions applying to the maritime part of FIR SANAA, east of a certain route. There, carriers should exercise caution at all flight levels, EASA added.
“Air operators should closely monitor airspace developments in the region and follow all available aeronautical publications issued by Yemen, or on their behalf by the Aviation Authorities of the neighboring States, including information shared through the European Information Sharing and Cooperation Platform on Conflict Zones, alongside available guidance or direction from their national authorities.”
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The CZIB was updated on October 31 and will be valid until at least April 30, 2025, if the security situation does not deteriorate further.
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If Air Canada violates the restricted airspace within the next year, it will be penalized with the second half of the $250,000 fine.
Turnbacks and reroutings
Some Air France flights have turned back or rerouted as the airline enacted its ban. For example, the airline’s Boeing 787-9, registered as F-HRBC, was operating flight AF814 from Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Kenya.
On November 3, the aircraft turned around just as it was about to overfly Egypt and flew back to Paris. On November 4, it has departed the French capital, and instead of flying eastward through Italy, Greece, Egypt, the Red Sea (while avoiding Sudan), Eritrea, and Ethiopia before landing in Kenya, which had been a typical route for the itinerary, the airline’s pilots now flew southward above France and Spain before entering Africa through Algeria.
Photo: Carlos Judica | Shutterstock
Subsequently, the 787-9 crossed the airspace of Mali before turning toward the Kenyan capital above Burkina Faso, Benin, and Nigeria at the time of publishing.
Meanwhile, while flight AF876 from Zanzibar Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) to Paris via Dar-es-Salaam Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) overflew the Red Sea region on November 3, the same flight on November 4 has already taken a different route to the end destination, Zanzibar.
Similarly to the aforementioned flight to Nairobi, the Air France Airbus A350-900, registered as F-HTYO, operating the itinerary, has flown southward before turning toward Zanzibar over Burkina Faso.
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The airline’s operations in West Africa have been significantly affected.