Airspace closures through the Middle East have grounded and diverted flights, after Iran reportedly launched drones toward Israel on April 13.
Following the drone attack, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon closed their airspace. As many airlines already avoid Iranian airspace, the Middle East region which serves as an overflight region connecting East with West became an almost no-flight zone. Airlines based in the above countries including Israel’s El Al have canceled dozens of flights. El Al alone canceled over three dozen flights.
Air traffic that used to fly over these airspaces has now moved to fly either over Saudi Arabia/Egypt or over Tajikistan/Pakistan. Especially, Egypt & Saudi airspace is now busy with the re-routed flights.
Update: UTC 14:00
While airspace has been reopened in the affected region, some restrictions are still in place. Flights between Iraq and Iran are currently prohibited by Iran through tomorrow.
Whereas, flights traveling north-south through Iran are limited to specific routes that have been moved east. However, Emirates and Qatar Airways continue to use the airspace.
Middle East – Europe Flights
The majority of the flights departing from the Middle East region avoid the closed airspace, however, some of the flights have been canceled. All three UAE carriers Etihad Airways, Emirates, flydubai, and other airlines have advised passengers to check their flight status on the airline website for the latest information regarding their flights.
Etihad Airways canceled its services to Tel Aviv, Israel, and Amman, Jordan, on Sunday, April 14, in response to the region’s airspace closure.
As seen in FlightRadar24, Egypt & Saudi Arabia’s airspace continue to be busy accommodating flights that would ordinarily be overflying Iraq, or near to Iraq-Iran border.
“Following recent airspace closures, Emirates has cancelled some flights and rerouted others. We are closely monitoring the situation and are making all efforts to ensure minimal disruption to customers while assisting impacted passengers.”
Emirates spokesperson
Singapore Flights and Qantas Flight QF9
Flights originating from Europe to Singapore have also been affected by the closure of the airspace in the Middle East region. British Airways flights to and from Singapore are using a slightly altered route than the usual one. Similar is the case with Singapore Airlines flights to and from Europe.
Qantas flight QF9 from Perth to London Heathrow is now being operated with a stopover in Singapore. However, the return flight QF10 continues as a direct flight.
Kuwait & Istanbul Flights
Another severely affected country is Kuwait. As soon as flights depart from Kuwait, they are being routed south to Saudi Arabia without being able to fly over Iraq’s airspace.
Some of the flights to Istanbul have been canceled, whereas other flights continue to re-route.
On April 13, at least six Qatar Airways flights originating from London Heathrow, Amsterdam, and other European destinations diverted to Istanbul, following the closure of the airspace.
As seen in the following FlightRadar screenshot, all these flights continued to Doha in the early morning of April 14.
North America Flights
Airlines have also rerouted several North American flights, to overfly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
However, United Airlines which recently resumed flights to Tel Aviv after suspending the flights following the Hamas attacks in October, canceled its flight on Saturday after Israel closed its airspace. United Airlines has also canceled most weekend flights to Dubai, and Amman.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and will make decisions on upcoming flights with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews.”
United Spokesperson
All Images via FlightRadar24
