Middle East Airspace – Current Operational Picture – International Ops 2026

Key Points – Sep 2 update

Big change with latest EASA guidance on Aug 31. They’re now basically saying you can fly to and from airports in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE again (see below for the fine print!)
US-Iran fighting has flared up again as of Sep 2. New strikes mean the risk of short-notice disruption is back up again.
Most Gulf FIRs are open with tactical routings, but with Kuwait still closed to overflights there is still no direct central route through the region.
The main Europe-Asia routes remain south via Egypt-Saudi-Oman/UAE or north via the Caucasus and Afghanistan.
GPS jamming and spoofing still widespread across the region.

Recent Developments

Sep 2 – US/Iran fighting flares up again

The US launched another round of strikes on Iran, and Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against US bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq.

So far the main Gulf airspaces remain open, but the risk of more short-notice disruption is obviously back up again.

Sep 2 – Three Saudi airports remain closed

Three airports in southern Saudi Arabia remain closed following recent Houthi attacks: OEAB/Abha, OEGN/Jizan and OENG/Najran. The OEJD/Jeddah FIR is still open, so there has been no major change to the main southern bypass route.

Aug 31 – EASA updates Middle East CZIBs again

So first the ones that changed. In their previous CZIB, EASA advised to avoid airspace in the following countries at all levels: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, Jordan. They’ve now changed that advice to the following:

Jordan: Now just a “take potential risk into account” kinda situation.
Lebanon: Still avoid, except for flights to/from OLBA/Beirut over the Mediterranean sea.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar & UAE: Slightly different twist to the Lebanon guidance. They’re now basically saying that flights over land to the airports in these countries are ok (with a general “exercise caution” warning), but that you should avoid the Persian Gulf over the sea except for flights to/from the airports. So you can get to the airports again, but ideally without spending any more time over the Gulf waters than necessary!

And the countries where the advice didn’t change:

Oman: Continue to avoid the Gulf of Oman west of 58°E.
Iran & Iraq: Continue to avoid at all levels.
Syria & Yemen: Separate long-standing CZIBs remain, avoid at all levels.
Israel & Saudi: The previous Information Notes are unchanged – take potential risk into account.

You can check all the CZIBs and Information notes here, along with some useful background on why EASA has made these changes and what’s been happening in the region.

Aug 22 – More Israeli strikes in Syria

Israel struck a military airbase in northwest Syria on Aug 18, followed by a drone strike near Damascus on Aug 22. The OSTT/Damascus FIR remains open and some operators are using it, but attacks like this are still happening now and then, so the Syria overflight option is still not a great one compared to the southern Saudi route.

Current Airspace Picture

The map below tells the short story of your overflight options! For Europe-Asia traffic or Gulf positioning, the two real options are still the same as we reported before – north via the Caucasus then Afghanistan, or south via Egypt then Saudi then Oman:

And now a quick lowdown on what’s going on in each little bit of airspace…

Kuwait

Kuwait remains closed to overflights, currently until Oct 2. Only flights arriving or departing OKKK/Kuwait are allowed with prior approval. Everywhere else is basically open to overflights in one form or another, but with Kuwait still closed it means there’s no direct central route through the Middle East.

Iran

Iran is open again, but overflights are still limited to specific routes above FL285. Radar coverage is still patchy and there are warnings for conflict activity and GPS interference. Most foreign operators continue to avoid the country.

Qatar

Qatar remains open to overflights and landings. Some flow restrictions apply for traffic heading towards Oman, and GPS interference remains an issue.

UAE

The UAE is a similar story – remains open, but traffic is still being managed through temporary routings and flow restrictions. GPS interference continues here too.

Bahrain

Bahrain remains open, although restrictions in neighbouring airspace can still affect onward routing. GPS interference also an issue here too!

Iraq

Iraq remains open to overflights, with no major new changes. Some airlines are using it, but most continue to prefer the northern or southern routes instead.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia remains open and continues to handle much of the southern bypass traffic. OEAB/Abha, OEGN/Jizan and OENG/Najran airports in the south of the country all remain closed following recent Houthi attacks. Across the OEJD/Jeddah FIR, flow measures and tactical routings now a normal part of ops. Opsgroup members are also reporting heavy ATC congestion and blocked transmissions in some sectors (more on that below!)

Oman

Oman remains one of the most useful FIRs in the region, especially for the southern bypass. It is open, but still with flow measures and ongoing GPS interference reports.

Jordan

Open and operating normally. In practice though, it’s still not a major transit route for Europe-Asia traffic. Most operators continue to route via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as they did before the conflict.

Israel

Israel is open, but ops still aren’t back to normal. Some foreign airlines have resumed services, but most major US and European operators continue to stay away.

Syria

Syria has quietly become part of the regional routing picture again after years of almost no international overflight traffic.

The OSTT/Damascus FIR reopened in early 2025 and some regional carriers are now using Syrian airspace again as an alternative to the more restricted Iran/Iraq option. Most of the traffic currently appears to be Middle East carriers rather than major US or European airlines, which largely continue to avoid the FIR.

The airspace remains high risk. Israeli airstrikes in Syria continue periodically, several countries still prohibit or strongly discourage their operators from entering the OSTT FIR, and ATC capability remains limited. Check safeairspace.net for more info on the airspace risk side of things.

We also spoke to a local Syrian agent (First Aero Services – seemed very helpful! contact info: ops@fasaero.com) about how overflights currently work here in practice. Operators generally need to apply through a local handling/permit company, which coordinates with the Syrian authorities and handles nav fee payments. Current charges are reportedly:

EUR 70 overflight permit handling fee per leg
EUR 455 fixed navigation charge per flight
extra charges for urgent processing or permit revisions

At the moment, the Syria routing still looks more like a temporary workaround being used by regional operators than a mainstream replacement for the old central Middle East corridor.

Armenia/Azerbaijan/Afghanistan

Armenia and Azerbaijan remain important parts of the northern bypass, with steady overflight demand. The main issue is still Afghanistan – the OAKX/Kabul FIR remains Class G with no normal ATS service, so crews still need to use the published contingency routes and operate with TIBA procedures.

Where’s the spoofing today?

Still our favourite map to check for this – the live GPS spoofing tracker from GPSwise.

The map detects spoofing in real-time based on the ADS-B data from the OpenSky Network. Handy for a quick look at what’s been happening along your route.

Recent Opsgroup Member Reports

We’ve had a lot of useful Airport Spy reports recently from Opsgroup members operating into several Middle East airports: OMDW/Al Maktoum, OMDB/Dubai, OBBI/Bahrain, OTHH/Doha, OMSJ/Sharjah, OMAD/Abu Dhabi and OEDF/Dammam.

Big theme across all of them is the scale of the GPS jamming/spoofing currently happening around the region. Several reported complete GPS loss on arrival or departure, and interference continuing well into neighbouring FIRs. ATC seems very used to it now, with lots of runway heading departures and radar vectors being issued.

Reports also mentioned fuel delays, extra towing/hangar time, and slower ground handling at some airports. We’ve also had reports of heavy ATC congestion in the OEJD/Jeddah FIR as traffic continues concentrating on the southern bypass via Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Opsgroup members can check Airport Spy in their dashboard for the full reports.

Access latest Airport Spy reports here.

If you have operated in the region recently and could share your experience, send us an anonymous Airport Spy report or email us at team@ops.group.

4 Comments

Deirdre Bowers says:

15 July, 2026 at 5:58 pm

I’m leaving Sydney to go to Dublin on the 23rd of July stopping down at Dubai for 3 hours .
Is this safe and is the airspace open.

Capt. Desmond Ross says:

11 March, 2026 at 4:39 pm

Can anyone tell us how Afghanistan is collecting its overflight aero charges?? With no ATC you have to question how they keep track of all flights.

- David Mumford says:
  
  12 March, 2026 at 7:17 am
  
  They charge a flat $700 USD to cross the OAKX/Kabul FIR, and I think that basically covers both the overflight permit and the nav fee. You request the permit from the Afghan CAA and the $700 usually gets handled through your trip support provider at the same time. More info here: https://ops.group/blog/2026-afghanistan-overflight-update/
  
Gareth Young says:

5 March, 2026 at 10:05 am

Thanks v informative.

Middle East Airspace – Current Operational Picture