Compounding airspace closures force commercial aviation into single South Caucasus corridor
Russian airspace restrictions since Feb 2022 and the Iranian airspace closure on 28 Feb 2026 have compounded routing limitations for aviation, leaving one corridor over Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Thousands of passenger jets are having to navigate a sliver of airspace between Russia in Iran due to ongoing wars – triggering congestion, longer travel times, greater fuel use and higher ticket costs.
Ever since the U.S. and Israel began air attacks on Iran on February 28, thousands of commercial aircraft are being forced to funnel through a narrow strip of airspace north of Iran and south of Russia.
Russian and Ukrainian airspace has been closed since February 2022, and now with Iranian airspace too dangerous to traverse, commercial airlines must navigate above a tiny strip of land occupied by Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
