Airspace closed, flights cancelled

AFP | Paris

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Thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled in the biggest disruption to global air transport since the Covid pandemic as airlines suspend services to the Middle East following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies after Saturday’s strikes and Iran launching missiles at capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region.

Major carriers from the Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States announced widespread cancellations, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Notable airlines that cancelled services included Emirates, Etihad, Air France, British Airways, Air India, Turkish Airlines, and Lufthansa.

According to aviation analytics company Cirium, of around 4,218 flights scheduled to land in Middle Eastern countries on Saturday, 966 (22.9 percent) were cancelled, with the figure rising above 1,800 if also including outbound flights.

For Sunday, 716 flights out of 4,329 scheduled to the Middle East have been cancelled, Cirium said. Flight tracking website FlightAware meanwhile said more than 19,000 flights had been delayed globally and more than 2,600 were cancelled as of 0230 GMT Sunday.

Airspace closures

Iran swiftly closed its airspace as the strikes began “until further notice”, said the spokesman of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, Transport Minister Miri Regev announced.

Qatar’s civil aviation authority said it had temporarily closed the Gulf state’s airspace.

Iraq shut down airspace, state media said. The United Arab Emirates said it was closing its skies “partially and temporarily”. Syria closed part of its airspace in the south along the border with Israel for 12 hours, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

Jordan’s air force was conducting drills to “defend the kingdom’s skies”, its military said. Kuwait closed its airspace