Following a series of Iranian rocket attacks on American targets in Iraq, Malaysia Airlines said today that they would be avoiding Iran’s airspace on their flights through the region.
In a statement released today, the carrier said the decision was “guided by various assessments including global security reports and Notice to Airmen (Notam) by respective airspace control authorities.”
“All our aircraft are equipped with Satellite Communication (Satcom) for immediate communication with the aircraft for any critical information and action such as reroute,” the statement added.
The airline noted that it also avoided Iraqi airspace on their regularly scheduled flights between Kuala Lumpur and London, Jeddah, and Medina.
Several other airlines have announced similar measures since the spike in tensions, including Singapore Airlines and Taiwan’s EVA Air, CNN reports. Also, in what so far appears to be an unrelated incident, a Ukraine International Airlines 737 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran today, killing all 176 people on board. Iranian officials have blamed technical difficulties for the crash.
The Iranian attacks inside Iraq were retaliation for the killing of general Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad airport this week, prompting widespread fears of outright war between the longtime adversaries. Following the rocket strikes, however, Iran announced that it had “concluded” its operations and was not seeking further escalation.
