Farhan Guliyev, director of AZANS, manages Azerbaijan’s airspace, which has become a vital air corridor for airlines with conflicts elsewhere.
LISBON—Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic Department (AZANS) has seen its overflight volumes increase by a factor of four over the past five years as carriers seek alternative routings due to airspace closures caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Iran war.
Azerbaijan, sandwiched between Russia to the north and Iran to the south, has become a vital air corridor enabling airlines to operate between Europe and Asia, AZANS Director Farhan Guliyev told Aviation Week at the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization Airspace World event in late May.
Back in early 2022, prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, AZANS was handling an average of 278 flights a day. With the closure of the Ukraine Flight Information Region (FIR) in 2022, that total had risen to an average of 695 per day by the end of 2025.
The Middle East crisis this year has diverted more traffic to the Azerbaijan FIR. Overflights increased to a daily average of 810 during March, Guliyev said. AZANS handled a peak of 1,062 flights in a single day on May 9 and has seen over 60 new carriers using its airspace since the crisis began.
AZANS handled 47,065 overflights in 2021, a number that rose to 261,085 in 2025.
“The closure of the Ukraine FIR and parts of Russian airspace, airlines avoiding Russian airspace because of sanctions, and the recent Middle East crisis has required rapid actions [on our part],” Guliyev said. “As traffic was rerouted across Eurasia, it has positioned the Azerbaijan FIR as a key alternative corridor.”
AZANS activated the contingency plans in place to manage such situations and has worked closely with stakeholders including neighboring Air Navigation Service Providers, airlines and the military. According to Guliyev, it has made changes to its airspace design, added new air traffic sectors and invested in its ATM systems to boost capacity.
Although the huge increase in overflights has given AZANS a significant revenue uplift, this is a side benefit of difficult times. “My country recognizes the importance of its responsibility to ensure global connectivity and is fully committed to fulfill this task today,” Guliyev said.
AZANS is investing in capacity enhancements to cope with the growing volumes but is designing it to be flexible so it can shrink back without causing stress to the air navigation service provider’s business. However, Guliyev said the new corridors it has created connecting China, Central Asia and India to Europe are “very beneficial to airlines” and will be important as the demand for east-west traffic rises.
Guliyev also sees the capacity of the Azerbaijan FIR increasing further if air traffic flow management is introduced in collaboration with states along this air corridor. This is under discussion and would raise hourly movements from today’s 250 to 300.
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