Airlines Reroute Flights amid Middle East Tensions

Airlines are rerouting and canceling some flights across the Middle East as tensions between Iran and the United States rise, with President Donald Trump saying the United States has a naval “armada” heading toward Iran. A senior Iranian official said on Thursday that Iran would treat any attack “as an all-out war against us,” ahead of the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier and other assets to the Middle East in the coming days.

The European Union’s aviation regulator on Jan. 16 advised European airlines to stay out of Iranian airspace as tensions have risen over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on protests and threats of U.S. intervention.

Royal Dutch Airlines

KLM will avoid flying over large parts of the Middle East until further notice due to heightened tensions there, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France KLM said today. “As a precautionary measure, given the geopolitical situation, KLM will not fly through the airspace of Iran, Iraq and Israel and will not fly over several countries in the Gulf region,” a KLM spokesperson said.

Air France

Air France resumed flights to Dubai today after canceling them the day before, stating that it was following the situation in the Middle East “in real time.” “Air France is continuously monitoring the geopolitical situation in the territories served and over which its aircraft fly,” according to a statement.

Lufthansa

Lufthansa said on January 14 that it would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice and would only operate daily flights to Tel Aviv and Amman between January 14 and January 19. Some flights could be canceled as a result of these actions, the company added in a statement the same day.

British Airways

British Airways temporarily suspended flights to Bahrain on January 16 as a precautionary measure, saying it “continues to closely monitor the situation in the region.” Flights to Bahrain were back online on British Airways’ website today, and a spokesman for the airline said all its flights were operating as scheduled.

Finnair

Finnair said in a statement on January 16 that it had stopped flying through Iraqi airspace, instead flying to Doha and Dubai over Saudi Arabia. The airline had already been avoiding Iranian, Syrian and Israeli airspace for security reasons.

Wizz Air

A Wizz Air spokesperson said in January that the airline was avoiding Iraqi and Iranian airspace. “Therefore, some westbound flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports will have to stop (for refueling and crew changes) in Larnaca, Cyprus or Thessaloniki, Greece,” the official said.

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