US penalises KLM and Air France over low-altitude Iraq flights

The US Department of Transportation issued settlement orders on 23 October imposing penalties of $320,000 on KLM and $105,000 on Air France. It found that both airlines operated flights carrying Delta Air Lines’ code below a restricted altitude in the Baghdad flight information region. Although the penalties total $425,000, only $265,000 is due within 60 days. The remaining $160,000 becomes payable only if either airline breaches its order’s cease-and-desist or payment provisions within a year.

According to the department, KLM operated more than 100 of the flights between January 2022 and May 2025, while Air France operated more than 30 between April 2022 and November 2025. Delta’s code was used to market the flights; the aircraft were operated by KLM or Air France. The restriction at issue bars specified US aviation operators from flying below flight level 320 — roughly 32,000ft — in the Baghdad flight information region. It applied to these flights through conditions on the airlines’ use of Delta’s code, not through a blanket ban on every flight over Iraq.

Both airlines say they had planned to fly above that level, but local air traffic controllers instructed crews to descend or refused permission to climb because of other traffic. They argue that obeying those instructions fell within an emergency exception. The department rejects that argument. It says it is not penalising crews for following instructions in the air; after repeated descents, the airlines could have changed their routes or removed Delta’s code before flying.

A KLM spokesperson told NOS that both airlines had taken measures to strengthen compliance with airspace restrictions. The orders will become final 10 days after they were served on 23 October unless a timely request for review is made or the department reviews them itself.