Turkmenistan Airlines Says Suspends Flights To UAE Over Iran Due To Security Reasons

Turkmenistan Airlines, the country's flagship carrier which operates flights from Ashgabat to the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said it would suspend flights to the UAE, as it passes through the Iranian airspace, from January 10-31 for security reasons amid escalation of tensions in the region

ASHGABAT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2020) Turkmenistan Airlines, the country's flagship carrier which operates flights from Ashgabat to the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said it would suspend flights to the UAE, as it passes through the Iranian airspace, from January 10-31 for security reasons amid escalation of tensions in the region.

"In accordance with the European Aviation Safety Agency's decision to suspend the use of airspace over Iran, and also taking into account that the air route from Ashgabat to Dubai and Abu Dhabi is 90 percent over closed territories and due to the lack of technical ability to carry out these flights, Turkmenistan Airlines cancels flights: [to and from Abu Dhabi] from January 10-31 and [to and from Dubai] from January 13-31," the company wrote on its website.

Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane crashed near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport minutes after takeoff on Wednesday amid an escalation between the United States and Iran in the region.

All 176 people on board were killed, among them Iranians, Ukrainians, Afghans, Canadians, Germans, Swedes and Britons.

Shortly before the crash, the Iranian forces launched a massive attack against US military bases in neighboring Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, one of the most prominent military figures in Iran.

On Thursday, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), warned domestic air carriers about the threat to the safety of flights to the Middle East due to military operations and the volatile socio-political situation in the region, and recommended that additional security measures should be taken.