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Airlines suspend flights to Middle East

By Neil Halligan
Passengers queue at Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport. Many airlines have suspended operations to Tel Aviv and Beirut Reuters/Yara Abi Nader
Passengers queue at Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport. Many airlines have suspended operations to Tel Aviv and Beirut
  • Airspace restrictions after Iran fires missiles
  • Most flights to Ben Gurion cancelled
  • Many airlines suspend flights to Beirut

Airlines in the Middle East have cancelled some flights and rerouted others after Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. 

Shares in some European airlines and travel companies fell on Wednesday by up to 2.7 percent after Israel’s neighbours closed airspace and airline crews skirted the conflict zone. 

Many airlines have suspended operations to Tel Aviv and Beirut after airspace closures, though the Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines continues to operate flights in and out of Beirut’s airport. 

The majority of flights listed to depart from or arrive at Ben Gurion Airport have been cancelled, according to its website.

Dubai’s Emirates airline, which on Sunday cancelled its Beirut flights until October 8, announced the additional cancellation of flights to and from Basra and Baghdad in Iraq, Tehran in Iran, and Amman in Jordan on October 2 and 3. 

It also announced the cancellation of certain flights on October 2 to Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat and London Heathrow.

Emirates said all other flights remain operational. An Emirates spokesperson told AGBI that flights from the UK to Dubai “remain full”, despite rising tensions in the region.

Flydubai has also cancelled flights to Jordan, Iraq, Israel and Iran on October 2 and 3. 

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways cancelled its Beirut flights until October 7 and said it was rerouting several flights on Wednesday because of airspace restrictions. 

Qatar Airways temporarily suspended flights to and from Iraq and Iran, because of airspace closures, and has suspended flights to Beirut. 

Kuwait Airways said on Tuesday it had adjusted the flight routes for some of its services, resulting in changes to destination timings.

Security measures

"This is in application of necessary security measures and to ensure the safety of passengers," the airline said.

British Airways cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv through to October 7, while Air France has suspended its Paris-Tel Aviv flights until October 8. 

KLM, which had previously cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until October 26, announced that those flights would be suspended until the end of the year at least. 

Two week ago, US airline Delta Air paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv until December 31, while United Airlines suspended its operations in August “for the foreseeable”.

American Airlines has extended its suspension of operations to the Israeli capital through to March, having halted its flights in the early days of the war in Gaza. 

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