The first passenger flight to return to Hong Kong from the Middle East on Wednesday night amid the escalating conflict in the region was made possible by safe corridors in United Arab Emirates (UAE) airspace, an aviation expert has said, outlining the challenges of flying over conflict zones.
Captain Steven Dominique Cheung, chairman of the Hong Kong Professional Airline Pilots Association, said on Thursday that pilots flying out of the Middle East could face GPS interference and false signals near conflict areas, including Ukraine.
“The Emirates EK380 flight could fly on Wednesday because the UAE government’s air traffic control established some safe corridors, meaning heading south immediately after take off,” he said.
His comments followed the arrival of the flight shortly before 10pm – the first to land after Dubai’s two airports resumed “limited” operations three days ago.
Cheung explained that flights to European destinations would pass through Saudi Arabia, while those bound for Asia would go through Oman. These routes would lengthen flight times by 30 to 60 minutes but allow aircraft to leave UAE airspace as quickly as possible.
“Flying through the airspace of Afghanistan is also a unique situation because there is no air traffic control in the country. Also, when we fly over places with conflict … it is increasingly common to experience GPS interference and false signals,” he said.
Cheung warned that if flights accidentally entered closed airspaces due to confused signals or interference – which could make them appear to be circling on flight-tracking apps – there was a risk of being struck by a missile.
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