Airport

The certificate was presented on Thursday, September 24, during a ceremony at the authority’s headquarters in Damascus. The event was attended by Omar al-Hosari, head of the Civil Aviation Authority.

Under the planned schedule, passengers could, for example, fly from Israel to Marrakesh and return from Casablanca without traveling back to their original arrival city.

The defect affects about 500 aircraft, including roughly 250 already in service and 250 in production, while it doesn't pose a safety risk according to the company's assessment.

"Alignment with America in implementing hostile policies will remain etched in the memory of the Iranian nation," he added. "Flight in the region is either free for all, or for no one," he stated.

“If a country cooperates with or embarks on adventures with the United States, its airports will no longer be able to operate flights,” Rezaei threatened.

Despite billions already spent or approved, the Federal Aviation Administration still relies on aging, often incompatible systems that can turn a single equipment failure into flight chaos.

Ethiopian Airlines said on social media that flights to Mekelle and the cities of Shire and Axum had been halted "due to the current situation in Tigray region," without giving further details.

The flights were halted on the day that 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers were arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Outcast, designed to ramp up economic pressure on Tehran alongside the conflict with Iran.

Reuters video and photographs showed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground.