jordan pulse -
The Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority announced on Sunday the reopening of Jordanian airspace to air traffic after it was suspended for hours.
The head of the Civil Aviation Authority, Haitham Misto, said that Jordanian airspace has been reopened and things have returned to normal.
The International Flight Radar website showed the first plane entering Jordanian airspace at 08:18 a.m., belonging to the Emirati company Etihad Airways, from Chicago to Abu Dhabi.
The authority had announced earlier, on Saturday, that Jordan had decided to temporarily close its airspace to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft “in light of the increasing regional tensions in the region.”
The authority said in a statement: “The authority has taken a decision to temporarily close Jordanian airspace to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft, starting at 20:00 UTC, that is, 11:00 pm local time, for the next several hours, and this will be continuously updated and reviewed according to developments.” It was then re-extended until 11 noon before the airspace was announced to reopen.
The decision came “in order to preserve the safety and security of civil aviation in Jordanian airspace, in light of the increasing regional tensions in the region, and after assessing the risks in accordance with the standards for civil aviation safety followed internationally,” according to the statement.