Egypt instructed all its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours on Thursday morning amid tensions between Israel and Iran.
The NOTAM, a safety notice issued to pilots on Wednesday, said the directive would be in effect from 0100 to 0400 GMT. It did not provide any details as to why the notice was issued.
“All Egyptian airlines will avoid flying over Tehran (flight information region),” the notice said, referring to the specified three-hour period. “No flight plan involving flying over such region will be accepted.”
Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the notice is aimed at reducing flight-safety risks in light of a notification received from Iranian authorities.
“The military exercises will be held on August 7 from 11:30 to 14:30 Tehran time and on August 8 from 4:30 to 7:30 in Iranian airspace,” the statement said.
The ministry’s press statement comes after state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV quoted an unnamed source as saying that Iranian authorities had asked the aircraft to avoid flying in Iranian airspace due to “military exercises.”
Several airlines are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, while also cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as many fear a wider conflict following the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
“This type of NOTAM from Egypt is very unusual. It is possible that it is a signal of Iran’s response to Israel, and in turn potentially causing large-scale disruption in the airspace – also, there could be another reason,” said OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight-risk information.
On Sunday, Jordanian authorities asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes of extra fuel.
Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their airspace earlier this year amid Israeli airstrikes.