Airlines are rerouting flights after Europe’s air traffic control agency said plane operators in the eastern Mediterranean should exercise caution over the next 72 hours due to possible airstrikes in Syria. As debate mounted over possible military action, Eurocontrol said the use of missiles could result in intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment.

The warning came after increased discussion among the US and its western allies of airstrikes to punish the Syrian regime’s suspected ordering of a deadly chemical weapons attack in a rebel-held area of the country on Saturday. At least 45 people are thought to have died in Douma, a town on the outskirts of Damascus.

A spokeswoman for Air France said the carrier had decided to alter flight paths on Beirut and Tel Aviv flights. EasyJet also announced that it would reroute flights from Tel Aviv.

Most commercial carriers have stopped using Syrian airspace during the country’s eight-year civil war after warnings from aviation regulators.

Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines, one of the few to continue flying directly over Syria, is also rerouting its flights temporarily. Only Syrian Air was still offering commercial flights above Syria on Wednesday, according to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

In a statement on its website, Eurocontrol said due consideration should be taken in airspace across the region, including Cyprus, the nearest EU member state to Syria.



“Due to the possible launch of airstrikes into Syria with air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the eastern Mediterranean/Nicosia FIR [flight information region] area,” it said.

Greece’s largest carrier, Aegean Airlines, which flies six times a day to Cyprus from Athens and Thessaloniki, said no changes had been made. “We are, like all airlines, on alert over the next 72 hours, but no changes have been made on any scheduled flight for the time being,” a company representative said.



The entire island of Cyprus and its surrounding waters were included in the designated airspace singled out by Eurocontrol.

The downing of a Malaysia Airlines commercial jet by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine in 2014 – in which all 298 people on board died – raised awareness among regulators and airlines of the risks posed to flights in conflict zones.

Recent warnings have tended to emerge after military action has started, so Eurocontrol’s pre-emptive notice suggests a heightening of regulatory scrutiny.