Several flights that wanted to fly from Europe via the Red Sea to destinations in the south had to turn back. Austrian Airlines refers to a formal problem, Air France to a security risk and a “luminous object”.
What do flights OS17, AF470, AF814 and AF934 have in common? Last weekend they all planned to fly from Europe across the Red Sea to destinations in the southern hemisphere. But none of them reached their destination. They turned around and returned to their starting points in the north – Vienna and Paris.
The Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 on flight OS17 turned around because Eritrea’s air traffic control did not approve entry into Eritrean airspace, as a spokeswoman for the airline explained. The reason for this is still being clarified. At Air France, however, this was not the reason why the Boeing 777 on the way to Mauritius, the Boeing 777 on the way to Antananarivo and the Boeing 787-9 on the way to Nairobi all returned to Paris.
“Luminous object at high altitude”
A crew “observed a luminous object at high altitude in the Sudan area,” explains Air France, without providing any more specific information. The airline has therefore decided to no longer fly over the Red Sea region “until further notice”. The route of some flights is therefore being adjusted. “The safety of customers and crews is our top priority,” explains Air France.
The French airline denied reports that a missile had been fired at one of its planes. Malagasy politician Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko was aboard the upturned Air France flight AF934 and later said a plane flying ahead had passed a missile. However, there are no proven facts yet.
There is instability around the Horn of Africa
The fact is that the region has been unstable for years. There is civil war in Sudan and Yemen. Foreign powers are also getting involved. In the conflict in Sudan, the insurgent Rapid Support Forces are fighting with the help of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Chad and the Central African Republic. In the conflict in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan are supporting the government, which is fighting against the insurgent Houthi rebels.
There has recently been a further escalation. Since the end of January, the Houthis have attacked several dozen merchant ships with drones, missiles and speedboats, as reported by the Global Conflict Tracker portal. Since then, large shipping companies have been circumnavigating the Red Sea, through which almost 15 percent of global maritime trade passes. Officially, the aim is to force an end to the Gaza war.
Highly armed Houthis
According to a new UN report, reported by the AP news agency, Iran has heavily armed the Houthis in recent years. This is how they went from being a rebel group to being a military power. For example, they have recently started using Hatem-2 missiles, which are based on the Iranian Kheibar Shekan missile model. The medium-range ballistic missile has a range of 1,450 kilometers. She can fly at high altitudes.
