Flights to and from over a dozen destinations were affected late on Saturday and Sunday due to the Iran-Israel military conflict.
Many airlines in the UAE, neighbouring GCC countries, Israel, the US, Europe and Asia either cancelled or rerouted their flights after Iran launched an attack on Israel with 300 drones and missiles early Sunday morning. Iran’s attack followed Israel’s bombardment of the Iranian embassy in Syria earlier, killing multiple Iranian nationals.
In the wake of Iran’s attack on Israel, flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman, Erbil, Beirut, Baghdad and some Iranian cities were cancelled by Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai, United Airlines, Delta, American Airlines, El AI, Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways and many other carriers.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
Some of the flights were rerouted, overflying Egypt and Saudi airspace to reach their destinations, while some airlines were told to return to their destination mid-way as Iran launched an attack against Israel.
Flights to and from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bangkok, Tehran and other cities were also impacted due to the airspace closure.
Flydubai said it cancelled some flights to Iran, Iraq, Israel and Jordan and two of its flights returned to Dubai as airspaces were shut temporarily. Emirates cancelled some flights in the late evening of April 13 until the morning of April 14. Etihad cancelled flights on Sunday to Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut due to the conflict.
Israel and Jordan closed their airspace on Sunday but reopened later in the day, allowing commercial planes to use their airspace.
Israel’s EI AI cancelled over 20 flights on Sunday and two flights coming from Thailand were asked to return to Thailand due to airspace closure. Lufthansa cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv, Erbil, Iraq and Amman on Sunday and Monday and will resume flights to these destinations on Tuesday. Beirut and Tehran flights will remain suspended till Thursday.