Airlines halt flights amid Middle East unrest

On Monday, international airlines experienced operational disruptions due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, following Iran‘s missile and drone strikes on Israel. These developments have significantly impacted flight paths between Europe and Asia.

The following airlines have issued updates on their current flight status (accprding to Reuters):

Airlines’ flights cancelled or rerouted

Israel’s El Al Airlines cancelled 15 flights scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Smaller Israeli carrier Arkia said it was making adjustments to its flight schedule after initially postponing flights to Athens, Milan and Geneva.
easyJet opens new tab on Sunday paused, opens new tab operations to and from Tel Aviv. The carrier said in an emailed statement to Reuters it will temporarily pause operations to and from Tel Aviv until 21 April.
German Lufthansa opens new tabsuspended, opens new tab its regular flights to and from Tel Aviv, Erbil and Amman up to and including Monday. Flights to Beirut and Tehran will remain suspended until at least Thursday.
Finnair opens new tabsuspended, opens new tab operations in Iranian airspace until further notice, which may cause longer flight times on flights from Doha. A spokesperson said the Finnish carrier will reroute over Egypt, resulting in delays of a “few minutes”.
KLM cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Dutch arm of Air France KLM, opens new tab said on Monday.
Wizz Air οpens new tab said it had cancelled, opens new tab most of its flights to and from Tel Aviv on Saturday through Monday.
SAS opens new tab spokesperson said flights between Copenhagen and Bangkok fly partially over the region, and one flight had to reroute on the night between Saturday and Sunday.
Some Fly Dubai flights were affected by the closure of airspaces, according to a statement from the Emirati airline on state news agency WAM.
IAG-owned opens new tab Iberia Express said on X social media it would cancel flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday.
United Airlines opens new tab cancelled Sunday’s planned flight from Newark to Tel Aviv, it said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Air Canada opens new tabwarned, opens new tab of long delays and cancellations on its Israel flights, and cancelled flights to Tel Aviv on Monday, opens new tab and Tuesday, opens new tab.
Qantas Airways opens new tab said on Saturday it had temporarily rerouted flights between Perth and London.
China Southern Airlines opens new tab cancelled Sunday’s flight to Iran, and Hainan Airlines (600221.SS), opens new tab said it is monitoring the situation and evaluating whether an upcoming flight to Israel can fly normally, Chinese business outlet Yicai reported.
Air India has cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv till April 20. The airline ran five weekly flights to the Israeli city, according to flight tracking platform Flightradar 24.
IndiGo has rerouted its daily flights to Istanbul from Delhi and Mumbai, according to Flightradar 24. The company, however, did not issue a formal statement on the change. Both flights, which earlier flew over Iran, now fly through Central Asia, according to Flightradar 24.
Vistara opens new tab, said it is “making changes to flight-paths” of some of its flights, without providing further details.

Resumed airlines’ flights

Qatar Airways resumed services to Amman, Beirut and Baghdad, it said, opens new tab in a post on X on Sunday.
Etihad Airways cancelled services to Tel Aviv, Israel and Amman, Jordan on Sunday, but said it planned to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut from Monday. It warned “there may still be a risk of some knock-on disruption” through Monday.
Emirates Airlines resumed scheduled operations to and from Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq from Sunday afternoon, a spokesperson said.

The article Airlines halt flights amid Middle East unrest first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.