Commercial air travel has continued stubbornly to traverse the airspace over the Middle East, despite pilots seeing missiles flying through the air from their cockpits.
Drones, rockets and missiles have crisscrossed the skies since Israel’s assault on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, followed by its assault on Lebanon a year later.
The most notable among the regional airlines may well be the Lebanese airline and the only remaining link to the outside world: MEA, or Middle East Airlines, which has continued to fly under the most difficult circumstances.
As the war continues, how and why do airlines continue to fly?
Here’s what you need to know:
Do the pilots really see the missiles passing?
On October 1, Iran launched approximately 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for a series of assassinations by Israel.
Airlines were unprepared, including an Air France Paris-Dubai flight that was flying over Iraq at the time.
Its pilots could see missiles streaking through the sky.
Iraqi air traffic control could do nothing but wish them good luck.
So why do airlines continue to serve the region?
According to experts, there aren’t many choices for some routes.
Since the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, which killed all 298 passengers and crew over eastern Ukraine, available routes between Europe and Southeast Asia were reduced, Ian Petchenik, communications director at Flightradar24, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
The incident led many commercial airlines to avoid eastern Ukraine.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, airspace over the entire territory of Ukraine was closed, with many Western airlines choosing to avoid Russian and Belarusian airspace as well.
Israel’s war against Gaza and Lebanon has further reduced available airspace.
Is it dangerous to fly?
Commercial aircraft should be safe if they are on an approved flight path.
Indeed, all air traffic controllers will have the best interests of civilians in mind, even if their countries don’t talk to each other, said Andrew Charlton, director of consultancy Aviation Advocacy.
Individual airlines are also taking some matters into their own hands.
“Airlines have very good relationships with the countries they fly to,” aviation expert Paul Beaver told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Beaver also said the technology and protocols, which include extra fuel in the event of a diversion, ensure the safety of commercial air travel in the region.
During the October 1 attack, pilots would have simply had to press a few buttons to set a course on a predetermined alternative route, he explained.
However, Charlton says, flying over the area always carries a “calculated risk” based on the assessment of an airline’s security team.
What happens when a country closes its airspace?
Rerouting, although this has its problems.
For example, during an upsurge in tensions around Israel or Lebanon, flights are often redirected to the Sinai Peninsula or Cairo, leaving Egyptian air traffic control to juggle between them.
Petchenik said a sudden closure of airspace in the region can threaten to “overwhelm” a country’s ability to manage air traffic.
Closing airspace also has a financial impact, with countries losing vital tax revenue and potentially discouraging airlines from flying to destinations within their borders.
Airspace control can also be a political tool. On Sunday, for example, Turkey rejected Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s request to use its airspace for his flight to attend the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Are missiles the only danger?
No.
Israel uses GPS spoofing to transmit false signals to planes. If you’re in the area, it’s not uncommon for your GPS location to suddenly tell you that you’re in the wrong city or country.
Identity theft simply requires sending erroneous data to a GPS tracker rather than harnessing a signal, which happens in GPS jamming.
Petchenik said airlines are now familiar with this practice and use alternative navigation systems when it happens, but it caused some concern when he managed to confuse the plane’s systems and trigger false field alerts.
What about the Israeli airline?
Israel has equipped its commercial planes with anti-missile systems since 2004.
The “Flight Guard” system includes a radar tool that detects incoming missiles and fires flares to deflect them.
According to an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, each unit costs around $1 million.
Other airlines and planes are said to have similar systems on board, particularly planes carrying heads of state and other VIPs, but the number is not known.
OK, but let’s talk about MEA. How does it still fly?
MEA continues to fly daily, a source of admiration and pride for many Lebanese.
Striking images have spread showing MEA planes taking off and landing from Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport amid plumes of smoke caused by Israeli strikes.
At Beirut International Airport; between the missiles at the doors, the serenity inside, the solitary and sparse flights (thank you the heroes of @MEAAIRLIBAN), we at @ifrc & @RedCrossLebanon chart a humanitarian path to deliver, always. Tough times! pic.twitter.com/mDKcaKP4y5
– Hossam Elsharkawi حسام (@elsharkawi) November 12, 2024
Mohammed Aziz, an MEA pilot, said Tel Aviv Tribune’s top executives spent about five hours each day determining whether it was safe to enter and leave Beirut.
“We have received very good assurances from the government and the main foreign embassies that Beirut airport, as long as it is used for civilian purposes, will be kept out of the conflict,” he said. he added.
