Page 10 - aruba-today-20190622

A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 22 June 2019
Airlines reroute flights after Iran downs US military drone

By JON GAMBRELL other target nearby — an-
Associated Press other reason not to be
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- anywhere near this part of
ates (AP) — Airlines rerout- the Strait of Hormuz," OPS-
ed flights Friday to avoid GROUP said.
airspace near the Strait A U.S. official said the mili-
of Hormuz after Iran shot tary had prepared limited
down a U.S. military sur- strikes on Iran in retaliation
veillance drone there and for downing the drone,
American aviation officials but approval was abruptly
warned that commercial withdrawn Thursday night
jetliners could be mistak- before the attacks were
enly attacked amid ten- launched. The official, who
sions between Tehran and was not authorized to dis-
Washington. cuss the operation publicly
Local long-haul carriers and spoke on condition of
Emirates and Etihad were anonymity, said the targets
among those that changed would have included ra-
flight routes in an area that dars and missile batteries.
is home to major hubs of President Donald Trump
global air travel. That could said the U.S. was "cocked
further imperil the bottom & loaded" to attack three
lines of Gulf long-haul car- sites in Iran before he halt-
riers, which already have ed the assault over con-
faced challenges under cerns about casualties.
the Trump administration. The drone incident height-
"The threat of a civil aircraft Debris from what Iran's Revolutionary Guard aerospace division describes as the U.S. drone which ened the crisis gripping
shootdown in southern was shot down on Thursday is displayed in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 21, 2019. the wider region, which is
Iran is real," warned OPS- Associated Press rooted in Trump withdraw-
GROUP, a company that ing the U.S. a year ago
advises airlines, citing as out to sea along the Per- But Henry Harteveldt, a as nearby land. from the 2015 nuclear deal
an example the downing sian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman travel analyst at Atmo- However, it said it would between Iran and world
of a Malaysia Airlines jet- and the Strait of Hormuz, sphere Research Group in continue its flights to Teh- powers and imposing crip-
liner over eastern Ukraine in the narrow connection be- San Francisco, said longer ran. pling new sanctions on
2014, killing all 298 aboard. tween the two bodies of routes put in place after The Persian Gulf 's long-haul Tehran. Recently, Iran qua-
The Federal Aviation Ad- water through which 20% of the 2014 Malaysia Airlines carriers already have been drupled its production of
ministration warned of a the world's crude oil passes. disaster added about 90 battered by Trump's travel low-enriched uranium to
"potential for miscalcula- "FAA remains concerned minutes of flying time — bans targeting predomi- be on pace to break one
tion or misidentification" in about the escalation of and critically, fuel burn — nantly Muslim countries, as of the deal's terms by next
the region after an Iranian tension and military activ- in each direction for flights well as an earlier ban on week while threatening to
surface-to-air missile on ity within close proximity to between Europe and parts laptops in airplane cabins raise enrichment closer to
Thursday brought down a high volume civil air routes of Asia. for Mideast carriers. weapons-grade levels on
U.S. Navy RQ-4A Global and the Iran's willingness to "That can turn a flight from Emirates, the long-haul car- July 7 if Europe doesn't of-
Hawk, an unmanned air- use long-range (surface-to- being a profitable one to a rier in Dubai near the Strait fer it a new deal.
craft with a wingspan larg- air missiles) in international loss," he said. "This is a big of Hormuz, told AP it was Citing unspecified Iranian
er than a Boeing 737 jetliner airspace with little to no deal." "rerouting all flights away threats, the U.S. has sent an
and costing over $100 mil- warning," the agency said. Petchenik called the FAA from areas of possible con- aircraft carrier to the region
lion. The U.S. said it made "As a result, there is concern statement "a cautious no- flict." Its sister airline, the and deployed additional
plans for limited strikes on about the potential for mis- tice." low-cost FlyDubai, said it troops alongside the tens
Iran in response, but then identification or miscalcu- "This didn't come out of no- "adjusted some of the exist- of thousands already there.
called them off. lation which could result in where. The FAA had previ- ing flight paths in the region All this has raised fears that
The FAA gave a similar the inadvertent targeting ously held that operators as a precautionary mea- a miscalculation or further
warning in May to commer- of civil aviation." should be aware of ten- sure." rise in tensions could push
cial airliners of the possibil- The overall impact of the sions. They should acknowl- Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. and Iran into an
ity of Iranian anti-aircraft directive is rather mini- edge that there could be also said it would "change open conflict, 40 years af-
gunners mistaking them for mal, said Ian Petchenik, a a risk to their aircraft. This a number of the flight paths ter Tehran's Islamic Revolu-
military aircraft, something spokesman for the flight- is the logical step for them we operate." tion.
dismissed by Tehran some tracking website Flightra- to take. It didn't come from Iran said the U.S. drone vio- "If we had done this, how
30 years after the U.S. Navy dar24, because avoiding nowhere. There should be lated its airspace, while the would have America re-
shot down an Iranian pas- that small portion of Iranian no surprise on the air carri- U.S. called the missile fire acted?" asked Gen. Amir
senger jet, killing 290 peo- airspace is fairly simple from ers' part," he added. "an unprovoked attack" Ali Hajizadeh, the head of
ple. a technical perspective. Qantas said it would re- in international airspace Guard's aerospace divi-
Iran had no immediate The few airlines affected route its London flights to over the Strait of Hormuz. sion, as he stood in Tehran
reaction to the U.S. an- would simply take northerly avoid the Strait of Hormuz OPSGROUP said the Ira- near a display of debris
nouncement. or southerly routes to avoid and Gulf of Oman. Brit- nian weapons system that that he said came from the
The FAA said its warning the area. He estimated ish Airways, KLM, Malaysia downed the drone was U.S. drone. "If we had flown
would affect the area of that 100 flights might be af- Airlines and Singapore Air- comparable to the Russian a drone near Washington,
the Tehran Flight Informa- fected in a 24-hour period. lines said their flights would Buk system used against for example, would they
tion Region. An FAA map "Long story short, if this is the avoid the strait. Lufthansa the Malaysia Airlines Boeing allow us to get as close as
showed that area extend- new status quo, some flights said it would avoid both 777 in Ukraine. 20 to 30 kilometers to their
ing from Iran's southern bor- are going to be marginally the Strait of Hormuz and "Any error in that system coasts? How would have
der roughly a dozen miles longer," Petchenik said. the Gulf of Oman, as well could cause it to find an- they reacted?"q