The U.S. Department of Transportation has fined Emirates Airlines $400,000 for flying through Iranian airspace over a period of more than two weeks in July 2019 in violation of an FAA order, the department said in a consent order issued Thursday. The DOT holds jurisdiction over the matter because Emirates operates under a code-share agreement with New York-based JetBlue Airways.
The FAA issued a Notam in June of 2019 prohibiting flight operations in the overwater area of the Tehran flight information region (FIR) because of heightened military activities and political tensions in the region. An investigation by the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) found that Emirates violated the order between July 1 and July 19, 2019, while operating under JetBlue’s B6 code.
In response, Emirates said it takes its regulatory compliance responsibilities “extremely seriously” and that it suspended “for a limited time period” all flights in the Tehran FIR (OIIX) except direct flights to the Iranian capital immediately after the FAA issued the Notam. However, the airline said when it resumed services over the region it inadvertently failed to remove the B6 code from the service. Once it recognized the oversight, it removed the code, it added.
Although Emirates said it does not believe the violation merited enforcement action, it agreed to a settlement that allows it to pay half of the fine within 120 days and waive the rest after a year if the airline does not run afoul of the order during that time.