New Delhi, Feb 28 (.) In light of the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel, and the US, aircraft carriers across several countries in West Asia, including UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, have either fully or partially closed their airspaces.
Additionally, flights to West Asia have been temporarily suspended by several major airline carriers including, Qatar Airways, Air France, KLM, Wizz Air, Air India, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have also suspended their flights.
The development comes after flights across West Asia were being cancelled as several countries have shut their airspaces post the joint Tel Aviv-Washington strikes against Tehran.
Several countries in the region, including Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE all announced at least partial closures of their skies in the hours after smoke began rising over Tehran and Iran began retaliatory attacks in the region.
Similarly, Russia’s Transport ministry announced that all Russian airlines have temporarily suspended their flights to both Iran and Israel in response to the escalating military tensions in the region.
Germany’s Lufthansa also confirmed it would suspend its scheduled services to and from Dubai for the time being.
West Asia is a vital corridor for flights across Europe and Asia, especially as much of the airspace between Russia and Ukraine has been closed amid the ongoing war to ensure aircraft safety.
However, the longer rerouted journeys increase fuel consumption and costs for commercial flights and anxiety and delays for international passengers.
With several neighbouring airspaces shut entirely, and others operating under heightened threat levels, airlines are navigating significant rerouting challenges. The cumulative effect has sharply constrained one of the busiest global transit corridors linking Europe, Asia and Oceania, with further adjustments likely as the situation evolves.
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