The war zones we fly over

01 August 2014 - 02:06 By Jean Louis Huisman
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Hundreds of flights leaving South Africa each week are flying over war zones.

A review of flight paths used by commercial airlines entering and leaving South Africa show that many routes cross over conflict zones occupied by rebel groups known to be in possession of heavy weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles.

A typical South African Airways flight from Johannesburg to London crosses over four different conflict zones.

During the 11-hour flight, the aircraft would fly over the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Chad and Libya.

These territories are in the throe s of conflict with armed forces having been shown to be in possession of surface-to-air missiles. R ebels in the DRC used a missile to shoot down an airliner carrying 40 civilians in 1998.

In May 2013, South African peacekeepers were threatened by CAR rebels armed with 37mm surface-to-air cannons.

Chad forms part of a territory spanning five countries under constant threat from the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram. In May last year, Boko Haram fired a surface-to-air missile at a Nigerian Air Force plane, damaging it.

Libya has the largest stockpile of Man Portable Air Defence Systems. These 20000 weapons were stolen by various militia and rebel groups as well as the army itself, and have since found their way into conflicts in Chad, Mali, Tunisia, Lebanon and possibly the CAR.

Aviation authorities, the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transport Association have met and "raised troubling concerns" about flying over conflict zones.

ICAO and IATA have since called for international action in controlling the proliferation of sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons.

Asked whether SAA was reviewing its flight paths, spokesman Tlali Tlali said this was done on a "continuous basis, taking safety and security into account".

Travel agent Liz Budge of XL OceanAir said since the Malaysian Airline disaster, clients were asking about their flight routes.

"Hot spots are being avoided and clients are doing conference calls. We have had a few clients who are considering postponing their trips," Budge said.

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