The FAA said in a statement, “The ongoing armed conflict and volatile security environment in Syria poses a serious potential threat to civil aviation,” and as a result barred all US planes from flying over Syria.
Should airlines be forces to fly in the airspace, operators are required to contact the FAA for permission as 170,000 people have now died in Syria during their civil war since 2011.
The FAA also mentioned that “opposition elements”, potentially armed extremist groups with anti-aircraft weapons, warned against commercial airlines coming close to Syria in the near future.
“Due to the presence of anti-aircraft weapons among the extremist groups and ongoing fighting in various locations throughout Syria, there is a continuing significant potential threat to civil aviation operating in Syrian airspace,” said the FAA.
