[SEOUL] Airlines cleared out of the airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan on Friday (Jun 13) after Israel launched attacks on targets in Iran, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers scrambling to divert and cancel flights to keep passengers and crew safe.
Proliferating conflict zones around the world are becoming an increasing burden on airline operations and profitability, and more of a safety concern.
Six commercial aircraft have been shot down unintentionally and three nearly missed since 2001, according to aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions.
Israel on Friday said it targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defence units stood at high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.
Israeli flag carrier El Al Airlines said it had suspended flights to and from Israel and was moving some of its planes out of the country.
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Israeli carrier Israir said it was evacuating its planes from Tel Aviv’s airport, which it said was expected to remain closed through the weekend.
Many global airlines had already halted flights to and from Tel Aviv after a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels towards Israel on May four landed near the airport.
Iranian airspace has been closed until further notice, according to state media and notices to pilots.
As reports of strikes on Iran emerged, a number of commercial flights by airlines including Dubai’s Emirates, Lufthansa and Air India were flying over Iran.
Air India, which overflies Iran for its Europe and North American flights, said several flights were being diverted or returned to their origin, including ones from New York, Vancouver, Chicago and London.
Lufthansa said its flights to Tehran have been suspended until further notice, and it would avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Israeli airspace for the time being.
Emirates, which cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iran after Israel’s attack, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iraq early on Friday closed its airspace and suspended all traffic at its airports, Iraqi state media reported.
Eastern Iraq near the border with Iran contains one of the world’s busiest air corridors, with dozens of flights crossing between Europe and the Gulf, many on routes from Asia to Europe, at any one moment.
Jordan, which sits between Israel and Iraq, closed its airspace several hours after the Israeli campaign began.
Flight diversions
“Traffic is now diverting either south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, or north via Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan,” according to Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organisation that shares flight risk information.
Flights from six airlines including Etihad Airways and Turkish Airlines were diverted to Baku, Azerbaijan according to its Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
An Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai was diverted to Istanbul and a flydubai flight from Belgrade diverted to Yerevan, Armenia.
Budget carrier flydubai said it had suspended flights to Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Iran and Israel and a number of other flights had been cancelled, rerouted or returned to their departure airports.
Qatar Airways cancelled its two scheduled flights to Damascus on Friday, Flightradar24 data shows.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East since October 2023 led to commercial aviation sharing the skies with short-notice barrages of drones and missiles across major flight paths – some of which were reportedly close enough to be seen by pilots and passengers.
Airspace in the Middle East last year was crossed daily by 1,400 flights to and from Europe, Eurocontrol data show.
Last year, planes were shot down by weaponry in Kazakhstan and in Sudan. These incidents followed the high-profile downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 en route from Tehran in 2020. REUTERS
