UAE AVOIDS USING AIR ROUTES OVER DISPUTED UAE-IRANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000070

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECLASSIFY ON 01/17/2017
TAGS: EAIR PREL ECON IR AE
SUBJECT: UAE AVOIDS USING AIR ROUTES OVER DISPUTED UAE-IRANIAN
TERRORITY

CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON FOR REASONS 1.4 (b&d).


1. (C) Summary. In an apparent reaction to disagreements between the
UAE and Iran regarding jurisdiction over air routes passing near the
disputed island of Abu Musa, the UAEG has reportedly ceased using a
major air corridor over the Gulf. The change adds pressure to an
already congested air corridor which requires flights from Dubai and
Sharjah to take off from and approach via a generally north-westerly
direction. Although, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al
Nayhan (AbZ) told Ambassador that he understood the problem had been
resolved on January 10, as far as the UAE General Civil Aviation
Authority (GCAA) is aware, the dispute remains un-resolved.
According to GCAA Deputy General Director Ahmed Al Hadabi, the UAE is
not using the disputed air corridor "because the UAE has issues with
Iran." End summary.


2. (C) General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) officials previously
told the Defense Attache Office (DAO) that the UAE had stopped using
the "P-574" air corridor for "safety of flight" reasons, rejecting
Iran's assertion of sovereignty over the route. Rather than engage
in cumbersome and unpredictable coordination with Iran, the UAE chose
to focus on alternative routing and requested that U.S. Air Force
assets using UAE airspace re-route where possible to alleviate
pressure on the now over-crowded north-westerly routing. DAO is
looking at shifting more flights overland to avoid the congested
area. ( Note. The "P-574" air corridor over the disputed territory
of Abu Musa is a primary corridor for flights to Eastern Europe. Now
those flights are being sent on a flight corridor used generally for
travel to Western Europe, essentially adding traffic to an already
busy path. End note.)


3. (C) On January 10, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed
al Nahyan (AbZ) told Ambassador the situation had been resolved (and
also noted that it had not/not been raised during his January 9 visit
to Tehran). However, on January 11 and 17, Econoff spoke to Deputy
Director General of the UAE Civil Aviation Authority, Ahmed al
Hadabi, who said the UAE and Iran have had an agreement allowing the
UAE to freely use the "P-574" air corridor for approximately ten
years. However, last month Iran suddenly made an additional demand
that the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority must contact the
Iranian Aviation Authority to get permission for flights to use the
air corridor, which violates the terms of the prior agreement. As
such, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority stopped using the air
corridor. Al Hadabi said the UAEG has submitted the dispute to the
International Civil Aviation Organization for mediation.


4. (C) Comment: The Abu Musa/Greater and Lesser Tunbs islands
dispute is a long-standing and mildly acrimonious facet of a complex
bilateral relationship between the UAE and Iran, yet has rarely
presented practical inconvenience for the UAE. The UAE desire to
avoid sharing coordination of a key air route with Iran is indicative
of common frustrations in the relationship, with the UAE simply
taking the less confrontational way out of a neighborly flap over air
space. It is too early to tell how or if the problem has been fully
resolved. End comment.

SISON