Passenger Flights Enter ‘No-Fly’ Zones

Iraq sent domestic passenger flights carrying 156 people into skies patrolled by U.S. and British warplanes, the first challenge of its kind to the “no-fly” zones that Iraq considers an infringement on its sovereignty. Iraq, which says the flights mark the resumption of regular passenger service, used converted cargo planes to take passengers to Basra in the southern no-fly zone and Mosul in the northern zone. Iraq’s fleet of 15 Boeing airliners was moved to Jordan, Iran and Tunisia to escape bombing during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. They remain abroad.