PARIS: Israel’s neighboring countries closed their airspace, and airline crews navigated around an intensifying conflict, seeking alternative routes after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for FlightRadar24 reported that flights were being diverted “anywhere they could.” Flight patterns in the region showed aircraft flying in wide arcs to the north and south, with many rerouting towards Cairo and Istanbul. The spokesperson noted that Istanbul and Antalya in southern Turkey were becoming congested, forcing some airlines to divert even further south.
Iran’s missile strikes were in retaliation for Israel’s operations against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. In response, Israel promised a “painful retaliation.”
Eurocontrol, a pan-European air traffic control agency, issued a warning to pilots about the escalating conflict, stating, “A major missile attack has just been launched against Israel. The entire country is currently under missile alert,” in an urgent navigation bulletin.
Following this, Eurocontrol announced the closure of Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, along with a key airspace crossing into Cyprus. An Iraqi bulletin confirmed that Baghdad-controlled airspace was closed “due to security until further notice.” However, Iraq’s transport ministry later announced the reopening of its airspace for civilian flights. FlightRadar24 noted on X (formerly Twitter) that it would “take some time” for flights to fully resume.
Jordan also reopened its airspace after initially closing it in response to the Iranian missile strikes, according to the Jordanian state news agency. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s airspace was set to close for two hours on Tuesday, as announced by Transport Minister Ali Hamie on X.
These latest disruptions are expected to further impact an airline industry already dealing with restrictions from ongoing conflicts between Israel and Hamas, as well as Russia and Ukraine.
