13/01/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced, on Friday 10 January, that it had contacted the national aviation authorities of the Member States to extend its recommendation expressed two days earlier (see EUROPE 12400/23) to limit commercial flight operations in certain parts of the Middle East. Based on recent events in the region, in particular the crash near Tehran on Wednesday 8 January of a Ukrainian passenger plane shot down “by mistake” by an Iranian missile, killing 176 people, EASA now recommends banning flights below 25,000 feet over Iran, in addition to its previous recommendation to avoid overflying Iraq. The European Commission also announced, on Monday 13 January, that it will make a new assessment of the situation this week, in consultation with the Member States. (DG)