MIDDLE EAST. Several airlines affected by the escalating conflict in the Middle East have started resuming services to some destinations in the region following flight disruptions over the weekend.
The shutdown of airspaces and flight cancellations took place after Iran’s drone and missile strikes on Israel on Saturday (13 April), in a reported retaliation to an airstrike that hit the Iranian consulate in Syria on 1 April.
Several countries in the region were forced to temporarily close their airspaces from Saturday evening until Sunday morning.
Airports in Tehran and across Iran have reopened today, Gulf News reported, citing state media. Many air routes connecting Southeast Asia and Europe pass over Iran’s airspaces.
Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq have also lifted airspace restrictions.
Flight cancellations and resumptions
US travel intelligence service Skift published a list of airlines that have announced flight disruptions during the weekend. Some already resumed services following the reopening of airspaces in the Middle East.
American Airlines’ flight from Philadelphia to Doha has resumed today after suspending its operations on Saturday.
Israel’s flagship carrier El Al said in a statement that it has resumed operations and is “working to stabilise the flight schedule as soon as possible” after cancelling more than 20 flights on Saturday. It rerouted several European and North American flights to avoid closed airspace in the region. The company is advising passengers to check its website for updates on flight schedules.
United Airlines’ flight from Newark to Tel Aviv was cancelled on Saturday, with no official statement on when services would resume. A flight from Washington to Amman is meanwhile scheduled today at 10:30pm PT.
EasyJet announced it was pausing operations to and from Tel Aviv until 21 April.
Swiss International Air Lines was also forced to halt its operations to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Erbil until Tuesday (16 April). A statement from the airline said: “Following Iran’s attack against Israeli territory, all Swiss aircraft are avoiding the airspaces of Iran, Iraq and Israel.”
The carrier said it would continue avoiding Iranian airspace, adding 90 minutes to flights from Zurich to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Delhi and Mumbai.
After flight reroutes and cancellations on Sunday and rerouting several European and North American flights, Etihad Airways has restored air connections to Amman, Beirut and Tel Aviv from Abu Dhabi. Citing a representative from the airline, Reuters reported that the possibility of knock-on disruptions remains throughout Monday (15 April).
Another UAE carrier, Emirates Airlines, resumed scheduled flights to and from Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq yesterday (14 April) amid the reopening of the airspaces in these countries, according to The National.
Australian airline Qantas also announced it would redirect its flight from Perth to London to avoid flying over the Middle East airspace, news.com.au reported.
Amid the ongoing situation in the Middle East, Singapore Airlines has temporarily stopped using Iranian airspace as a “precautionary measure”, according to Channel News Asia. The airline said it is closely monitoring the situation in the region, and will use alternative routes as needed. ✈
