Air Canada fined US$250K for flying over prohibited Iraqi airspace

Air Canada has been fined US$250,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for operating flights in prohibited Iraqi airspace under its codeshare agreement with an American airline.

The agency says between October 2022 and January 2023, Air Canada flew a “significant number of flights” between the United Arab Emirates and Canada using a United Airlines designator code in airspace prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to U.S. operators.

It added that several flights took place after the agency’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) issued an investigation letter to Air Canada.

“By operating these flights in this manner, Air Canada violated the conditions of its authority to operate and engaged in air transportation without the proper DOT authority,” the agency said in a statement on Friday.

Since October 2020, U.S. air carriers have been banned by the FAA from flying below a certain level over Iraqi airspace

In its defence, Air Canada said it has always been aware of, and has always complied with, the U.S. agency’s policy on flights over conflict zones and that it took “immediate action” upon receiving the notice that its codeshare flights may have violated its rules.

The airline added that it has served the Dubai to Toronto route for years “without incident” and that the specific incidents cited were “unplanned, inadvertent, limited in number, and of brief duration.”

Air Canada said the overflight issues on this route only arose when it deployed Boeing 777-300 aircraft and that aircraft loads, variations from forecast weather conditions, and air traffic control not providing timely permission for the flight to climb resulted in the breach of prohibited airspace.

Under the terms of the decision, Air Canada must pay half of the fine within 60 days while the other half will remain suspended unless the airline commits another violation within one year.

Air Canada said it ceased codesharing with United Airlines on the Dubai to Toronto route on January 13, 2023.