Nov 2 2023
The Turkish government is continuing to ban business aircraft from using the country’s airspace for flights to and from Armenia. According to the Ops Group, the ban remains in force even after officials rescinded an earlier ban on Armenian airline Flyone that was imposed in May, forcing one of its aircraft flying from Paris to the capital Yerevan to make an emergency landing in Chisinau, Moldova.
The Ops Group said that Turkey has not issued notams confirming the unexplained ban on private aircraft en route to Armenia. However, the group’s members have reported that some aircraft operators have been obliged to make tech stops in neighboring Georgia.
Turkish officials have yet to explain why the business aviation community is being singled out. The initial ban was in response to the installation of the Nemesis Monument in Yerevan, commemorating the 1921 killings of Ottoman Empire officials considered to be responsible for the murder of an estimated one million Armenians in 1915, which 31 countries have recognized as genocide.
Meanwhile, EASA this week extended and updated its Conflict Zone Information Bulletin covering risks to aircraft operating in Israeli airspace during the conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah forces in Gaza and Lebanon, respectively. The bulletin does not recommend closure of the airspace to civil traffic and advises operators to keep following the guidance of Israeli authorities.