Major airlines cancel hundreds of flights as multiple nations close their skies following retaliatory strikes between the US, Israel and Iran.
PARIS: Airspace across the Middle East was closed and hundreds of flights were cancelled on Saturday. The widespread disruption followed retaliatory strikes between the United States, Israel and Iran.
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies. The moves came after smoke was seen over Tehran and Iran launched its own attacks in the region.
Iranian missiles reportedly hit capital cities around the Gulf, killing at least one person. Witnesses reported seeing warplanes and projectiles in the skies.
According to aviation analytics company Cirium, 966 out of 4,218 flights scheduled to land in Middle Eastern countries on Saturday were cancelled. This figure represents 22.9% of all arrivals.
When including outbound flights, the total number of cancellations rose above 1,800. For Sunday, 716 flights out of 4,329 scheduled to the region have already been cancelled.
Flight tracking website FlightAware reported more than 19,000 flights were delayed globally. Over 2,600 flights were cancelled as of 0230 GMT Sunday.
Iran swiftly closed its airspace “until further notice” as the strikes began. Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, Transport Minister Miri Regev announced.
Qatar, Iraq, the UAE, Syria and Kuwait all announced airspace closures. Jordan’s air force said it was conducting drills to “defend the kingdom’s skies”.
Major Gulf carriers Emirates and Etihad cancelled 38% and 30% of their flights respectively. Qatar Airways suspended all flights from Doha and cancelled 41% of its total schedule.
Syria’s national carrier, Syria Air, cancelled all flights until further notice. Russia’s air transport authority cancelled all commercial flights to Israel and Iran.
Air India suspended flights to all destinations in the Middle East. Pakistan International Airlines suspended flights to the UAE, Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait.
Turkish Airlines suspended flights to 10 Middle East nations. “Flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan have been cancelled until March 2,” a spokesman said.
Flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Oman were only suspended for Saturday. Air France cancelled its Dubai, Riyadh and Beirut flights for the day.
The French carrier also suspended flights to Tel Aviv until Sunday. British Airways is not flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 4.
Swiss International Air Lines is suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 7. The carrier also cancelled flights from Zurich to Dubai scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Lufthansa cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until March 7. The German airline group also suspended flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi until Sunday.
Algerian carrier Air Algerie suspended Saturday’s flights to Amman, Dubai and Doha. Finnair suspended daily flights to Dubai and Doha until March 6.
Norwegian is suspending its flights to and from Dubai up until and including March 4. “We will then assess if it’s possible to resume flights,” the budget carrier told AFP.
Wizz Air suspended all flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until March 7. The Hungarian low-cost carrier also cancelled flights to Saudi Arabia until March 2.
Garuda Indonesia temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha “until further notice”. The announcement was made in a company statement on Sunday.
The Sun Malaysia
