ROYAL JORDANIAN CONFIRMS SOME FLIGHT PATTERNS AVOID ISRAEL

UNCLAS AMMAN 000391 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND EEB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON JO IZ SUBJECT: ROYAL JORDANIAN CONFIRMS SOME FLIGHT PATTERNS AVOID ISRAEL AT BEHEST OF ARAB COUNTRIES (SBU) A Jordanian Member of Parliament was quoted in the local press saying that he had observed that national carrier Royal Jordanian (RJ) flights to Europe and North Africa often circumvented Israeli airspace. He added that RJ pilots told him that it was because Israel often changed the flight routes, which he viewed as an infringement of negotiated bilateral aviation agreements. Iman Rihani, Director of Public Relations at RJ, confirmed to Emboffs that RJ flights from Tunisia and Libya do indeed by-pass Israeli airspace. She explained that this was because Tunisian and Libyan officials were reluctant to file flight plans that included Israel. She added that when RJ flies from Jordan to those countries it does fly over Israel since the Jordanian government does not have similar concerns. Visit Amman's Classified Website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman BEECROFT