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UAE airlines stop flying over Egypt's Sinai, others may follow

Dubai - Emirates, Air Arabia and flydubai have rerouted their flights, whereas Qatar Airways and British Airways are exercising caution.

Dubai-based Emirates, the Middle East's biggest carrier, says it has stopped flying over Egypt's Sinai until more is known about the crash of a Russian airliner in the rugged peninsula.
The airline made the announcement on Sunday, the day after the crash of the Russian plane, which had taken off 23 minutes earlier from the popular Red Sea resort town of Sharm El Sheikh. All 224 people on board died.
“We are currently monitoring the situation,” a statement from the airline said.
Emirates flies twice daily to Cairo and flies over the Sinai on other routes in the Middle East and North Africa.
The cause of the crash was not yet known. A local affiliate of the Daesh group claimed it "brought down" the aircraft, but Russia's transport minister dismissed the claim.
Two major European airlines, Germany's Lufthansa and Air France, said on Saturday that they would immediately stop flying over Sinai for safety reasons until the cause of the crash was determined.
Dubai’s budget carrier flydubai and Sharjah-based Air Arabia have also rerouted flights around the Sinai Peninsula.
A Qatar Airways spokesman said there were no changes to Egyptian airspace rules and therefore no changes in the airline’s flight schedules.

At KLM, a spokeswoman said the airline had no flights scheduled in that area on Sunday so there was no need to review flight paths. She said the airline would exercise caution in any future flights in the area.

A British Airways spokesperson said the airline would never operate a flight until it was safe to do so.
"The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so. Our safety team continually liaises with the appropriate authorities around the world, and we conduct very detailed risk assessments into every route we operate."
issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com
With inputs from AP