Gulf, European Carriers Avoid Sinai After Russian Jet Crash
- Airlines avoiding the site as precaution until more is known
- Etihad Airways is U.A.E. holdout, will keep flying over Sinai
This article is for subscribers only.
Most national carriers in the United Arab Emirates will reroute flights to avoid Egypt’s Sinai peninsula until more is known on what caused a Russian-operated jet to crash there on Saturday, killing all 224 people aboard.
Dubai-based Emirates, FlyDubai and Sharjah-based Air Arabia joined Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa in shunning that flight path, and said Sunday that they are monitoring the situation closely. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said it will continue flying over the Sinai because there’s no evidence of any “ulterior motive” in the crash, an airline spokesman said by e-mail, adding that it will comply with Egyptian instructions to avoid certain areas over the peninsula.