The Egyptian authorities have been warned by Iran that its airlines should avoid flying over Iranian airspace in the early hours of Thursday morning for a period of three hours due to "military manoeuvres".
The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that the Iranian authorities have warned all civilian airlines flying over Iranian airspace that they will be carrying out "military manoeuvres" on Thursday, August 8, "in Tehran from 04:30 to 07:30 local time (02:00 to 05:00 Lisbon time)".
However, according to the Egyptian ministry, the Iranian authorities had already issued a similar warning for today, between 11.30am and 2.30pm (9am and 11am Lisbon time).
"In order to ensure the safety of passengers on Egyptian aeroplanes and apply the international standards in force, the Egyptian Civil Aviation authorities have issued a warning to all Egyptian airlines not to enter Iranian airspace during the times mentioned, to avoid any danger that could affect the safety of flights," the ministry's statement said.
Earlier, an official Egyptian government source had given the same information, but in less detail, to the official Egyptian television station Al-Qahera News, which is close to the Arab country's secret services.
On the other hand, specialised aviation media indicated today that Egypt has issued a NOTAM - a warning to aeronautical navigation about any danger on a route - to avoid Iranian airspace between 01:00 and 04:00 GMT (02:00 and 05:00 Lisbon time) on Thursday, without providing further details.
The warning comes at a time when Israel is expecting retaliation from Iran, after an attack attributed to the Jewish state killed the leader of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week.
Last April, when Iran launched its first attack against Israel in retaliation for the destruction of the Iranian consulate in Damascus by an Israeli bombing raid, Jordan was the first country to close its airspace.
So far, Jordanian civil aviation has not reacted to this information.
