Eritrea did not allow Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 to pass

It is now clear why a flight to Mauritius had to return to Vienna. Eritrea refused to allow the Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 to fly over.

04/11/24- 10:06 | Stefan Eiselin

Boeing 777 of AUA: Not allowed to fly over Eritrea.

Austrian Airlines

After 9:45 hours, the passengers of flight OS17 on Saturday (November 2) were back where they came from. The Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 with the registration OE-LPF turned over the Red Sea on its way to Mauritius and returned to Vienna. A spokeswoman blamed this on "a failure to grant overflight permission."

AUA did not initially provide any specific information. On Monday (November 4), however, the airline was more specific. Eritrea's air traffic control did not authorize the flight into Eritrean airspace, although an overflight permit had been issued, according to a spokeswoman.

Austrian Airlines clarifies what happened

This is all the more surprising given that the chosen flight route is a standard route. "We flew the same route a few days earlier." The red and white Boeing 777s normally fly over the Red Sea, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia towards the Indian Ocean.

Austrian Airlines is now clarifying "how this situation, which is inexplicable and unforeseeable for us, could have come about." The airline chose a different route for flight OS17, which was postponed by one day. From the Mediterranean, the Triple Seven flew briefly over Egypt, then over Saudi Arabia and then over Oman to Mauritius.

Eritrea ließ Boeing 777 von Austrian Airlines nicht passieren

According to Austrian Airlines, the flight from Vienna to Mauritius on Sunday will take place. It will have an alternative route.

The Mysterious Reversal Series and the Red Sea

Several flights that wanted to fly from Europe via the Red Sea to destinations in the south had to turn back. Austrian Airlines pointed to a formal problem, Air France to a security risk and a "luminous object".

04.11.24 - 16:22 | Stefan Eiselin

Southern Red Sea: A Crisis Region.

Nasa Visible Earth

What do flights OS17, AF470, AF814 and AF934 have in common? They all planned to fly from Europe over the Red Sea to destinations in the southern hemisphere last weekend. But none of them reached their destination. They turned around and returned to their starting points in the north - Vienna and Paris.

The Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 on flight OS17 turned around because Eritrea's air traffic control did not authorize entry into Eritrean airspace , a spokeswoman for the airline explained. The reason for this is still being investigated. However, in the case of Air France, this was not the reason why the Boeing 777 en route to Mauritius, the Boeing 777 en route to Antananarivo and the Boeing 787-9 en route to Nairobi all returned to Paris.

"Luminous object at high altitude"

A crew "observed a luminous object at high altitude in the Sudan region," Air France explained, without giving any more specific details. The airline has therefore decided not to fly over the Red Sea region "until further notice." The routes of some flights are therefore being adjusted. "The safety of customers and crews is our top priority," Air France explained.

The French airline denied reports that a missile had been fired at one of its planes. The Malagasy politician Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko was on board the turned-around Air France flight AF934 and later stated that a plane flying ahead had flown past a missile. However, there are no verifiable facts so far.

Instability prevails around the Horn of Africa

The fact is that the region has been unstable for years. There is a civil war in Sudan and Yemen. Foreign powers are also involved. In the conflict in Sudan, the insurgent Rapid Support Forces are fighting with the help of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group , Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Chad and the Central African Republic. In the conflict in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan are supporting the government, which is fighting against the insurgent Houthi rebels.

Recently, there has been a further escalation. Since the end of January, the Houthis have attacked several dozen merchant ships with drones, missiles and speedboats, as the Global Conflict Tracker portal reports. Since then, major shipping companies have been avoiding the Red Sea, through which almost 15 percent of global maritime trade passes. Officially, the aim is to force an end to the Gaza war.

Highly armed Houthis

According to a new UN report reported by the AP news agency , Iran has significantly upgraded the Houthis in recent years. They have gone from being a rebel group to a military power. For example, they have recently started using Hatem-2 missiles, which are based on the Iranian Kheibar Shekan missile model. The medium-range ballistic missile has a range of 1,450 kilometers and can fly at high altitudes.

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