Extension of the Prohibition Against Certain Flights in the Baghdad Flight Information Region (FIR) (ORBB)

This action extends, for an additional two years, the prohibition against certain flight operations in the Baghdad FIR (ORBB) at altitudes below Flight Level 320 (FL320) by all: U.S. air carriers; U.S. commercial operators; persons exercising the privileges of an airman certificate issued by the FAA, except when such persons are operating U.S.-registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and operators of U.S.-registered civil aircraft, except when the operator of such aircraft is a foreign air carrier. The FAA finds this action necessary to address continuing hazards to persons and aircraft engaged in such flight operations due to the complex security environment that currently exists in the Baghdad FIR (ORBB) and the associated safety- of-flight hazards, as described in the preamble to this final rule. The FAA also republishes, with minor administrative revisions, the approval process and exemption information for this Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR), consistent with other recently published flight prohibition SFARs.