Air France flight #AF662 from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle to Dubai flew over Iraq that evening, while missiles fired by the Islamic Republic were flying over the country.
Air France flight #AF662 was cruising at 35,000 ft over Iraq using specific corridor when the Iranian attack began at around 16:45 UTC.
The Boeing 777-300ER (registration F-GSQU) left the country’s airspace shortly before 17:00 UTC.
According to French media, Air France pilots saw missiles above the plane from the cockpit.
Without waiting for instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France has decided to suspend flights over the country’s airspace by its aircraft as of 17:00 universal time (19:00 CEST).
Air France
However flight #AF218, connecting Paris CDG to Mumbai (India) turned around to land at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Flight #AF257, connecting Singapore to Paris-CDG landed at Delhi (India) in order to refuel, as avoiding the region meant that the journey time would be longer.
“Iraqi airspace was not officially closed by local authorities until 17:56 UTC.
Air France
However, commercial flights in Iran appear to have received no ATC warning about ballistic missile launches.
A company spokesperson told AFP that “an internal investigation has been opened into this event.”
