Air France has opened an internal inquiry into why one of its jets flew over Iraq on October 1 as Iran launched a missile attack on Israel as Middle East tensions heightened, the airline told Agence France-Presse (AFP) - a French news agency - on October 9, 2024.
Iraq lies between the two countries. Air France flight AF662 flew over southern Iraq airspace as the attack began at around 16:45 GMT before leaving the airspace shortly after at just before 17:00 GMT.
"Without waiting for instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France has decided to suspend overflight of the country's airspace by its aircraft from 1700 GMT," the airline said.
Iraq its airspace nearly an hour later closed at 17:56 GMT, the airline told AFP.
The airline said its flights already avoided flying over Israel, Lebanon, and Iran as tensions in the region continued to unfurl.
French television channel LCI, which first reported the incident, detailed how pilots had reportedly saw missiles and that Iraqi air traffic control had wished apparently wished them good luck. The airline, however, did not confirm this in its statement - only that it had opened an investigation into the incident.