As Israel and Iran trade blows in the Middle East, commercial aircraft traversing the region are doing so through fewer corridors to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Airlines travelling over the Middle East are redirecting their aircraft away from the region as tensions between Israel and Iran are poised to enter a new phase, aviation industry watchers say.Some airlines have since avoided airspace over Iraq and Iran in anticipation of an Israel i retaliatory attack.
Flightradar24 said about 80 flights operated by airlines such as British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways, were diverted to other airports including Cairo.Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country's response to Iran's strikes would be "lethal" and "surprising".While some airlines have resumed using that airspace, the risk of further conflict has caused some companies to reroute their flights to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
"It impacts travellers with higher airfares … it varies from airline to airline as to how exactly it impacts but typically it's higher airfares."London School of Economics Department of International Relations PhD scholar Kazimier Lim said the changes were congesting some of the remaining routes available to aircraft near the Middle East.
UAE state-owned carrier Emirates said it had suspended flights to Baghdad, Iran and Beirut until the end of October. All 298 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777 died, including 38 Australian citizens and residents. The European Union Aviation Safety Authority has advised airlines not to fly over Afghanistan because "extremist non-state actor groups" were active and might "sporadically" target aviation facilities.
Iraq Iran Lebanon Airlines Aircraft Flightradar24 Kazimier Lim European Union Aviation Safety Authority Geoffrey Thomas MH17 Qantas
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