US: FAA extends ban on US flights over Syria through 2020

FAA has extended a prohibition on US flights over Syria until Dec. 30, 2020, citing the “threat to civil aviation from the multifaceted conflict and extremist threat, and militant activity.” The ban, originally issued in December 2014, applies to all US carriers and commercial operators, as well as anyone flying with an FAA-issued airman certificate or operating a US-registered civil aircraft, except when the aircraft is operated by a foreign carrier. While the ban does not extend to foreign carriers, US Department of Transportation codeshare authorizations forbid foreign carriers using a US codeshare partner’s code from operating in prohibited airspace. In a Dec. 10 Federal Register notice, FAA said operations in the Damascus (OSTT) Flight Information Region (FIR), which encompasses the entirety of Syrian airspace, continue to be threatened by “a number of armed extremist groups equipped with a variety of anti-aircraft weapons that have the ability to threaten civil aircraft.” FAA said the groups “have successfully shot down Syrian military aircraft and have previously warned civil air carriers against providing service to Syria.”<br/>