Middle East crisis: Several airlines suspend services, avoid Iranian airspace
1. Airline Actions:
With the Middle East tensions flaring up, Air India has temporarily suspended its Tel Aviv flights. Other national and international carriers have also charted alternative flight paths to avoid the Iranian airspace. Longer flight paths will result in increased operational costs for the airlines, and the situation could also push airfares higher. Apart from Air India, Vistara and IndiGo from India have opted for alternative paths for their flights to the West. An official stated that IndiGo, which operates flights to Istanbul with aircraft leased from Turkish Airlines, is avoiding the Iranian airspace.
2. Actions of Middle Eastern and European Airlines:
Major Middle East airlines, including Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways, announced they would resume operation in the region after canceling or rerouting some flights. It was not yet clear if the latest unrest would impact passenger demand, according to Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst.
3. Saudia and Jordan's Actions:
Saudia, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, has suspended all its services to the airports in the northern region of the country until further notice. Jordan has closed its airspace indefinitely to all incoming, departing, and transit aircraft.
4. Kuwait Airways and European Aviation Agency's Response:
Jordan's closure led Kuwait Airways to cancel its flights to Al Qurayyat in Jordan. The airline company has temporarily suspended its services to Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon. The European aviation agency also urged caution in Israeli and Iranian airspaces, though it stated no civil overflights had been placed at risk. Dutch airline KLM has canceled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Tuesday.
5. Impact and Comparison:
Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP, which monitors airspace and airports, noted that this was the biggest single disruption to air travel since the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. He added that disruptions were likely to last a couple more days.
6. Further Context:
The latest routing problems are a blow to an industry already facing a host of restrictions due to conflicts between Israel and Hamas, and Russia and Ukraine. Iran's airspace is used by airlines traveling between Europe and Asia, and those carriers will be restricted to two viable alternative routes, either through Turkey or via Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Israel closed its airspace on Saturday before reopening them on Sunday morning. Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon also resumed flights over their territories.
