ALBAWABA - Shortly following the news of Jordan's temporary closure of its airspace, a FlyDubai flight returned to UAE mid-way to Israel.
According to the FlyDubai website, a flight which was scheduled from Dubai to Tel Aviv has made a U-turn back to UAE amid growing fears of an Iranian attack against Israel any minute.
The Emirati airlines hasn't made any comment or clarification yet regarding the reason behind the flight return, however, social media users and activists linked the news to the growing tension between Iran and Israel and the possibility of an attack by Tehran against Tel Aviv.
Screenshot from FlyDubai website of the plane which returned to UAE while on its way to Israel
This comes shortly after the Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority announced that the Jordanian airspace will be temporarily closed to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft, starting tonight.
According to the authority, the decision comes in light of the escalation of tension in the region, following the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria, which Tehran blames Israeli for the attack, and its threats to respond to the deadly attack on its embassy in Syria.
The statement reads: "The authority has taken a decision to temporarily close Jordanian airspace to all incoming, departing and crossing 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."
The decision came "in order to preserve the safety and security of civil aviation in Jordanian airspace, in light of the escalation of surrounding risks in the region, and after assessing the risks in accordance with internationally followed standards," it added.
