Several Airlines Cancel Flights as Attack Reignites Concerns About Flying Through Conflict Zones
A plane carrying 154 passengers came under fire after landing at Baghdad International Airport in a suspected Islamic State attack, prompting airlines to cancel flights and reigniting concerns about flying through conflict zones.
Low-cost carrier FlyDubai said Tuesday that small-arms fire hit Flight 215 from Dubai as it landed in the Iraqi capital just before 5 p.m. local time on Monday, damaging the fuselage of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft. All passengers disembarked through the jet bridge and no medical attention was required at the airport, FlyDubai said.
Aviation and security officials said three or four shots, which appeared to be sniper fire, had been discharged from Radwaniya, south of the airport.
But the source and motive behind the attack remained unclear Tuesday evening. Saad Al Mutalibi, a member of the security committee in Baghdad’s provincial council, said Iraqi security officials suspected Islamic State, which has advanced in areas around the capital, had shot at the jet in an attempt to disrupt aviation services to Iraq.
FlyDubai said in a statement, though, that it had received preliminary information suggesting the shots fired had been unintentional, though it declined to say where the information had come from or provide other details on the possible source of the gunfire.
Concerns about airlines flying into conflict zones have grown over the past year since Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 people on board. Airlines plying routes between Europe and Persian Gulf hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have largely stopped flying over Iraqi airspace after the advance of Islamic State into stretches of the country last year. Some carriers, though, have continued to fly directly to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
The U.S. and its Arab allies in September began launching airstrikes against Islamic Statein both Iraq and Syria.
Aviation authorities said they had taken steps to ensure the airport was secure after multiple airlines suspended flights to and from Baghdad. Security forces launched an operation in the Abu Ghraib area to the west of Baghdad to secure the perimeter of the airport after the arms fire, Mr. Mutalibi said.
Transport Minister Baqer Al Zubaidi said the airport was running with “no problems at all” and called on Arab counties to resume flights to Baghdad. “We will take tough measures against the attackers of the plane, whoever they are,” Mr. Zubaidi said on Iraqi television.
FlyDubai said it sent a replacement aircraft to Iraq on Monday to carry passengers back to Dubai and suspended flights to Baghdad until further notice as a result of the shooting.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said it would suspend flights to the Iraqi capital after the General Civil Aviation Authority in the United Arab Emirates issued a ban on flying to Baghdad out of security concerns. Dubai’s Emirates Airline, Air Arabia and Turkish Airlines also canceled flights to Baghdad. Emirates and Air Arabia, though, said they would continue flying to Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Basra in the south of the country.
The U.A.E.’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iraqi ambassador to its offices to request an investigation into the incident, according to the country’s news agency.
“The U.A.E. plane incident is a deliberate attack. It’s not a casual, unintentional,” said Hamid Al Mutlaq, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee.
The U.S. in August told airlines flying over Iraq to remain at higher altitudes. U.S. carriers are now prohibited from flying over the country below 30,000 feet, while European safety regulators issued similar guidance.
Before the recent advances of Islamic State, the aviation route over Iraq had become a busy one for airlines traveling between Europe and Persian Gulf hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, as well as Southeast Asia.
Air France , Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Virgin Atlantic Airways all said they have since ceased flying over Iraq. Etihad and Emirates have diverted most of their traffic through Iran’s airspace to connect to Europe and some ports in the U.S.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, the aviation safety arm of the United Nations, is due to host a meeting on commercial flights in areas of conflict in the coming weeks in Montreal. Officials say they are seeking better security data from governments and intelligence services to strike a balance between keeping flights safe and avoiding unnecessary disruptions to airlines and their passengers.
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