Airlines divert, cancel Middle East flights as Iran attacks U.S. base

Airlines diverted more flights in the Middle East on Monday after the Iranian armed forces said the country launched a missile strike on an American military base in Qatar, such as the region military conflict continued to disrupt flights.

More than 20 commercial planes for Doha, Qatar, diverted, while four others heading to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates turned, according to the Cirium aviation data company. Meanwhile, the Flightradar24 flight tracking platform said the air space on water was temporarily closed. Reuters reported that the island nation of Bahrain has also temporarily closed its airspace.

Emirates, based in Dubai, said that some of his planes had redirected on Monday and told customers that some delays or longer flights are possible because he would operate his schedule as expected, but with “the flight journeys far removed from conflict zones”.

Air India said that it had interrupted all the flights in and outside the region and towards the east coast of North America and Europe “until further notice”.

“Our flights to India from North America divert to their respective origins and others are returned to India where closed air spaces have been reduced,” said Air India job On X. “We ask for understanding of all passengers who can be affected by this disturbance which exceeds the control of an airline.”

The carrier had previously announced Some calendars reduce improved safety checks after the fatal crash of one of its Boeing 787 shortly after takeoff of Ahmedabad in the west of India at the beginning of the month. The cause of this accident is still being studied.

British Airways said on Monday that he cancels his Doha flights until Wednesday “following the last developments”.

“Security is always our highest priority,” he said. “We contact our customers to advise them from their options and keep the current situation.”

Earlier, major international airlines, including Air France, Iberia, Finnair and others, announced that they would stop or postpone more service to certain destinations in the Middle East.

American airlines had previously suspended its flights to Doha, and United Airlines had done a service in Dubai.

American carriers also had suspended Their Israel service after the country’s strike on Iran earlier this month.

The conflict in the Middle East added to the complications of airlines that have treated with the airspace restricted since the start of the Ukraine War in 2022 and that Russian airspace closed many carriers.

Transporters periodically plead parts of the Middle East due to safety problems, but closed airspace means longer and more expensive routes that require more fuel.