Factbox-Airlines suspend flights due to Middle East tensions

An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel April 14, 2024. /Amir Cohen/File Photo

Global airlines faced disruptions to flights on Monday after Iran's missile and drone attacks on Israel further narrowed options for planes navigating between Europe and Asia.

While Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon reopened their airspaces on Sunday, some routes continue to be affected.

Below airlines have provided an update:

CANCELLED/REROUTED

Europe

* KLM cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Dutch arm of Air France KLM said on Monday.

* Finnair suspended operations in Iranian airspace until further notice, which may cause longer flight times on flights from Doha. A spokesperson said the Finnish carrier will reroute over Egypt, resulting in delays of a "few minutes".

* A SAS spokesperson said flights between Copenhagen and Bangkok fly partially over the region, and one flight had to reroute on the night between Saturday and Sunday.

* IAG-owned Iberia Express said on X social media it would cancel flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday.

* Britain's easyJet on Sunday paused operations to and from Tel Aviv. The carrier said in an emailed statement to Reuters it will temporarily pause operations to and from Tel Aviv until 21 April.

* Wizz Air said it had cancelled most of its flights to and from Tel Aviv on Saturday through Monday.

North America

* United Airlines canceled Monday's flight to Tel Aviv and also canceled its flight from Washington Dulles Airport to Amman, Jordan for Tuesday. United has resumed its regularly scheduled flights between Newark Liberty Airport in the United States and Dubai.

* Air Canada warned of long delays and cancellations on its Israel flights, and cancelled flights to Tel Aviv on Monday and Tuesday.

Australia

* Australia's Qantas Airways said on Saturday it had temporarily rerouted flights between Perth and London.

Asia

* China Southern Airlines cancelled Sunday's flight to Iran, and Hainan Airlines said it is monitoring the situation and evaluating whether an upcoming flight to Israel can fly normally, Chinese business outlet Yicai reported.

* Air India has cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv till April 20. The airline ran five weekly flights to the Israeli city, according to flight tracking platform Flightradar 24.

* Indian carrier IndiGo has rerouted its daily flights to Istanbul from Delhi and Mumbai, according to Flightradar 24. The company, however, did not issue a formal statement on the change. Both flights, which earlier flew over Iran, now fly through Central Asia, according to Flightradar 24.

* Indian carrier Vistara, co-owned by Tata and Singapore Airlines, said it is "making changes to flight-paths" of some of its flights, without providing further details.

The Middle East

* Israel's El Al Airlines cancelled 15 flights scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

* Smaller Israeli carrier Arkia said it was making adjustments to its flight schedule after initially postponing flights to Athens, Milan and Geneva.

* Some Fly Dubai flights were affected by the closure of airspaces, according to a statement from the Emirati airline on state news agency WAM.

RESUMED

* Germany's Lufthansa will resume its flights serving Tel Aviv, Amman and Erbil on Tuesday. Flights to Tehran and Beirut will remain canceled up to Thursday.

* Etihad Airways cancelled services to Tel Aviv, Israel and Amman, Jordan on Sunday, but said it planned to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut from Monday. It warned "there may still be a risk of some knock-on disruption" through Monday.

* Emirates Airlines resumed scheduled operations to and from Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq from Sunday afternoon, a spokesperson said.

* Qatar Airways also resumed services to Amman, Beirut and Baghdad, it said in a post on X on Sunday.

(Compiled by Alessandro Parodi, Joao Manuel Mauricio and Tristan Veyet in Gdansk and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn and Kate Holton; Edited by Milla Nissi, Shounak Dasgupta, David Evans and Maju Samuel)