July 2025: The ceasefire between Israel and Iran has held so far. All airspace in the region has largely reopened, but the corridor between Israel and Iran remains high risk if the conflict resumes.
See OPSGROUP Briefing:
Middle East airspace situation – June 2025
The
primary risk is a misident by Iranian air defence systems. Iran has shown willingness to use long-range, advanced anti-aircraft-capable weapons during heightened tensions and in close proximity to heavily flown international air routes (for example: the shoot-down of Ukraine Int Airlines flight 752 over Tehran). Several countries have issued airspace warnings for Iran - the US continues to ban N-reg aircraft from the airspace. Most operators have been avoiding Iran and Israel since the Oct 2024 rocket attacks between the two countries — most Middle East transits have been operating south via Egypt/Saudi instead.
Major events:June 2025: Israel/Iran missile attacks.
Oct 2024: Iranian rocket attack on Israel, and Israeli rocket attack on Iran in response.
Apr 2024: Israel rocket attack on Iran. Iran temporarily closed the western part of the FIR.
Feb 2024: Report of GPS spoofing on airway M701 from ENEDA to NAGRO - the closest airway to Iraqi airspace. One GPS showed no position and the remaining GPS and all 3 IRS showed radically different positions.
Jan 2024: Pakistan launched retaliatory air strikes into southeastern Iran, after Iran carried out strikes in Pakistan the previous day.
Sep 2023: Several reports of GPS spoofing in northern Iraq, plus some in northern Iran.
Jul 2023: Four countries took Iran to the UN court over the the shootdown of UIA flight 752 over Tehran in Jan 2020. Part of their allegations were that Iran has still not provided sufficient evidence that measures are now in place to prevent this kind of incident from happening again.
Jan 2020: Iranian Armed Forces shot-down Ukraine Int Airlines flight 752 over Tehran, having mistaken the aircraft radar return for an inbound missile. Just hours prior to the shoot-down, the US FAA issued “Emergency Order” Notams banning all US operators from overflying the airspace of Iraq and Iran. This was in response to an Iranian missile strike on US military bases in Iraq, which had occurred earlier that night.
June 2019: Iran shot down a US military unmanned aircraft operating in airspace over the Gulf of Oman with a SAM system.
Since 2017: Iran has conducted multiple ballistic missile test launches without issuing any Notams to warn civil operators, the latest taking place in late Dec 2019.