The airline was rapped for operating flights carrying Delta Air Lines’ code (DL) in regions in which a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight prohibition was in effect.
By carrying the DL code on flights in airspace in which the FAA prohibits US carriers from flying, Virgin Atlantic operated in violation of federal law.
At the time of the investigation, the UK’s Department for Transport permitted overflight of Iraqi airspace at high altitudes. However, the US authorities did not permit US carriers, or non-US carriers operating with the code of a US carrier, to fly over Iraq at any altitude.
