Azerbaijani and Turkish Civilian Aircraft No Longer Entering Armenian Airspace as of Today

Amidst the backdrop of Azerbaijan's military aggression against Armenia, the national airline of the enemy country, "AZAL," has begun conducting all flights through Iranian airspace starting today. Previously, these flights were operating through Armenian airspace on the Baku-Nakhichevan-Baku route, as reported by "Hetq." Until September 12, there were three flights per day by "AZAL" between Baku and Nakhichevan that utilized Armenian airspace — in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.

It is worth mentioning that these flights resumed in October 2021. Prior to that, civilian aircraft from the enemy did not enter Armenian airspace for specific reasons. Since November 2014, Azerbaijanis have avoided flying over Armenia, following an incident where on November 12 of that year, they struck a "Mi-24" military helicopter conducting training flights over Artsakh’s airspace, which was unarmed. After that, Azerbaijanis feared retaliatory actions from the Armenian side and, for seven years, flew from Baku to Nakhichevan only using Iranian airspace.

After the Armenian authorities agreed to allow "AZAL" to resume flights over Armenian airspace, the Azerbaijani national airline declared that this route would reduce flight time and fuel costs, indicating that flights over Armenian airspace were a beneficial option for Azerbaijan.

It is noted that when conducting flights on the Baku-Nakhichevan-Baku route, Azerbaijani aircraft traverse the skies of Vardenis, Martuni, Vayots Dzor, and occasionally even the Ararat region. Up until now, one of the hottest fronts of ongoing military operations was the Vardenis region.

Until today, Turkish Airlines' Istanbul-Nakhichevan-Ganja-Istanbul flights also utilized Armenian airspace for the Nakhichevan-Ganja-Istanbul sector. However, as of today, Turkish aircraft heading from Nakhichevan to Ganja has entered Iranian airspace, and flights from Ganja to Istanbul have moved into Georgian airspace.