Airlines evacuated airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan on Friday after Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, data from flight tracking group Flightradar24 showed, as carriers scrambled to reroute and cancel flights to protect passengers and crew.
The spread of the conflict around the world is becoming a growing burden on airline operations and profitability, and a growing security concern.
Six commercial airliners have been unintentionally shot down and three have had near misses since 2001, aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions said.
Israel announced on Friday it had struck Iranian nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders, at the start of what it warned would be a long-term operation to prevent Tehran from developing atomic weapons.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israeli air defense units were on high alert for possible retaliation from Iran.
Israel’s national carrier El Al Airlines said it had suspended flights to and from Israel.
Iranian airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported.
As news of the attacks on Iran emerged, a number of commercial flights from airlines including Dubai-based Emirates, Lufthansa and Air India flew over Iran.
Air India, which flies over Iran on its flights to Europe and North America, said several flights had been diverted or turned back, including those from New York, Vancouver, Chicago and London.
Emirates and Lufthansa did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iraq closed its airspace and suspended all traffic at its airports on Friday morning, Iraqi state media reported.
Eastern Iraq, near the border with Iran, contains one of the world’s busiest air corridors, with dozens of flights crossing between Europe and the Gulf, many on routes from Asia to Europe, at any given time.
Flights are constantly being diverted via central Asia or Saudi Arabia, flight tracking data has shown.
Jordan, which sits between Israel and Iraq, closed its airspace hours after the Israeli campaign began.
“The situation is still evolving – operators should exercise extreme caution in the region at this time,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organisation that shares information on flight risks.
Several flights due to land in Dubai were diverted early on Friday. An Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai was diverted to Istanbul, and a Flydubai flight from Belgrade was diverted to Yerevan in Armenia.
A number of commercial flights were cancelled, diverted or returned to their originating airports.
Qatar Airways canceled its two scheduled flights to Damascus on Friday, according to Flightradar24 data, Reuters reports.
