ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi airspace recorded around 6,660 terminal flights and over 1,340 overflying flights in June, Baghdad's transport ministry reported Thursday, a day after the EU's top aviation regulator issued a strict "conflict zone" warning, advising all airlines to avoid Iraqi and Iranian airspace at all flight levels and altitudes amid regional escalations.
“The number of over-flights or transit flights that passed through Iraqi airspace reached 1,346,” while “the number of arriving civilian flights - both domestic and international - stood at 3,311, and departing civilian flights reached 3,347," said the General Company for Air Navigation Services (GCANS).
The Company, which operates under the transport ministry, noted Baghdad International Airport as the facility recording the highest volume of traffic with 1,570 arriving flights and 1,576 departing flights, followed by Erbil International Airport with 696 arriving flights and 692 departing flights.
The Jalal Talabani International Airport in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province also recorded 146 arriving flights and 146 departing flights, while Kirkuk Airport saw 134 arriving flights and 132 departing flights. The remainder of the flights were recorded at southern Iraq's Basra and Najaf airports.
Iraq reopened its airspace on April 8 following a 40-day closure that began with the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28, when direct military strikes between the United States, Israel and Iran left Iraqi skies unsafe for commercial aviation. The decision came on the same day the warring parties agreed to a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire, allowing space for negotiations.
The US and Iran in mid-June agreed to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding - a preliminary agreement under which both sides committed to a cessation of military operations and to talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement to the regional war within 60 days of signing, with the possibility of extension by mutual consent.
The agreement was tested in late June after it briefly collapsed into high-intensity military exchanges across the region before backchannel diplomacy led to an emergency stand-down.
More doubt was cast on the deal in the last 48 hours after the two sides engaged in intense military escalation, as US Central Command (CENTCOM) carryied out dozens of strikes across Iran over what it described as Tehran's unjustified attacks on commercial shipping in regional waters, while the Iranian military claimed to have targeted US assets across the region.
Amid the escalation, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a strict Conflict Zone Information Bulletin (CZIB) warning that the military conflict in the region has "created high risks not only to the airspace of Iran but also to that of neighbouring states hosting U.S. military bases."
The CZIB added that despite the temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran, Iraqi airspace "continues to be affected by conflict-related risks," stemming from “recurrent Iranian drone and ballistic missile attacks, the activation of air defence systems, and the continued presence and operations of violent non-state actors, particularly Iranian-backed militant groups.”
Accordingly, EASA explicitly directed commercial air operators to "not operate within the affected airspace" of Iraq and Iran "at all flight levels and altitudes" and to "closely monitor airspace developments in the region.”
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