The map of global aviation has been quietly redrawn. For decades, airlines crossing Eurasia could choose among multiple routes linking Europe and Asia. Today, military conflict, sanctions, and regional instability have dramatically narrowed those options. Russian airspace remains closed to many Western carriers. Iranian airspace carries growing operational risks. Successive crises across the Middle East have further constrained the skies. As global air travel is expected to roughly double by 2042, more aircraft are being funneled into fewer viable corridors.

One of the most important of those corridors runs through a region few people outside the industry know about: the South Caucasus.