Air France has temporarily suspended its flight route over the Red Sea after the crew of a flight to Madagascar noticed a suspected missile in sight. The incident occurred along the Sudanese coast, after which the Boeing 777-200ER and its crew returned to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. The airline reacted quickly and withdrew two more planes en route to the Middle East.
As a result of these incidents, all flights over the Red Sea are being diverted, as a spokesperson for Air France confirmed. On Monday, flight AF934 therefore diverted to a route via Saudi Arabia and Oman before landing safely in Madagascar. The decision was made in accordance with the latest safety advice from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which generally advises against overflights in Sudanese airspace. The background to this is the ongoing military tensions in the region, which have been exacerbated in particular by rocket attacks and drone attacks. At the beginning of October, Houthi rebels from Yemen increasingly launched drone and rocket attacks in the Red Sea, endangering the security of air and shipping routes.
According to EASA, there is a high risk for civil air traffic due to military activities and the increased use of air defence resources in Sudan. Just recently, a civil IL-76 was shot down in Sudan, presumably by rebels. Last month, Air France was forced to divert a flight from Iran due to a sighting of rockets in the context of the ongoing conflicts in Israel and Gaza.