JERUSALEM: Jordan on Monday hit out at Israel’s move to open a new international airport along their shared border close to the Red Sea, saying it would threaten the kingdom’s airspace.
“Jordan rejects the establishment of the Israeli airport in its current location,” head of Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission Haitham Misto said, according to state media.
Misto said the airport violated “international standards regarding respect for the sovereignty of airspace and territory of other countries.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the opening ceremony earlier in the day of the Ramon Airport, meant to boost tourism in the Jewish state and serve as an emergency alternative to Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport.
Initially, the sleek new terminal will handle only domestic flights operated by Israeli carriers. A date has not yet been set for the start of international flights.
Jordan first voiced its objection to the new Israeli airport when construction began in 2013.
The airport sits just across the border from Jordan’s King Hussein International Airport in the Red Sea city of Aqaba.
Misto said Jordan had notified the International Civil Aviation Organization of “the kingdom’s strong objection.”
The kingdom, he said, had called on the ICAO to “take all necessary measures to ensure that Israel complies with international standards.”
Misto said the committee had been in touch with Israel’s civil aviation authority, and “informed them that the decision to operate the airport should not be taken unilaterally until all outstanding matters are resolved.”
Jordan “reserves all options to ensure the defense of the kingdom’s interests and protection,” he added.
The new airport is named after Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle explosion, and his son Assaf, an Israeli Air Force pilot who died in a training accident in 2009.
A date has not yet been given for the start of international flights.
Construction costs for the new airport have been put at 1.7 billion shekels ($455 million)
Israel opens new Eilat airport, angering Jordan
Israel opens new Eilat airport, angering Jordan
- Initially Ramon Airport will handle only domestic flights, operated by Israeli carriers Arkia and Israir
- A date has not yet been given for the start of international flights
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
