March 1 (Reuters) – Airlines continued to cancel flights across the Middle East on Sunday as much of the region’s airspace remained closed a day after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and plunging the region into a new conflict.
Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar remained virtually empty, maps by flight-tracking service Flightradar24 showed, and air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, shut or severely restricted.
Below is the latest on flights listed by airline in alphabetical order:
AEGEAN AIRLINES
Greece’s largest carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon and Erbil in Iraq until March 2.
AIR ASTANA
The group cancelled all flights to the Middle East through March 3.
AIR CANADA
The airline said it has cancelled flights from Canada to Israel until March 8 and flights to Dubai until March 3.
AIR EUROPA
The Spanish airline cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday and is monitoring the situation to assess operations from Tuesday.
AIR FRANCE KLM
Air France cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon for Saturday.
Its Dutch arm KLM said late on Saturday that this weekend’s flights to and from Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh have been cancelled. It had already brought forward suspension of its Amsterdam–Tel Aviv service to Saturday.
AIR INDIA
The carrier cancelled flights scheduled for Sunday from Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar to London, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris. It added that more flights to London, Birmingham, Amsterdam, Zurich, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Frankfurt had been cancelled.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES
The airline has suspended flights to and from Dubai, Doha, Jeddah and Tel Aviv.
BRITISH AIRWAYS
IAG-owned British Airways said it has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 3 and its flight to Amman on Saturday.
CATHAY PACIFIC
Hong Kong’s Cathay Group, parent of Cathay Pacific Airways, suspended operations in the region, affecting passenger flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh, as well as freighter service at Al Maktoum airport. That is Dubai’s second airport after Dubai International Airport, the primary hub that handles most passenger traffic.
EMIRATES
Owing to multiple regional airspace closures, Emirates has suspended all operations to and from Dubai until 3 p.m. UAE time on March 2.
ETIHAD
The UAE’s Etihad said flights scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi were suspended until 2 p.m. local time on Sunday.
FLYDUBAI
The airline said it had temporarily suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 3 p.m. local time on Sunday.
IBERIA EXPRESS
The Spanish airline owned by Iberia Group cancelled a flight to Tel Aviv scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. local time.
INDIGO
IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, said it had extended a temporary suspension of select international flights using Middle East airspace until Monday.
ITA AIRWAYS
ITA Airways suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv and said it would not use the airspace of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Iran until March 7. Flights to and from Dubai were suspended until March 1.
JAPAN AIRLINES
Japan Airlines cancelled a flight on Saturday from Tokyo Haneda to Doha as well as a return flight on March 1, Nikkei said.
LOT POLISH AIRLINES
The airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv until March 15 and cancelled flights to Dubai and Riyadh until March 2.
LUFTHANSA
The German airline has extended the suspension of its flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, Dammam and Tehran up to and including March 8.
Flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi were suspended up to and including March 4 and United Arab Emirates airspace was not to be used up to and including March 4.
NORWEGIAN AIR
The Nordic airline suspended all flights to and from Dubai until March 4, a company spokesperson said. The carrier did not suspend flights to Tel Aviv in Israel or Beirut in Lebanon because these destinations are only active in summer, he added.
PEGASUS AIRLINES
The airline said that flights to Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon were cancelled up to and including March 2.
QATAR AIRWAYS
The airline said flights remain temporarily suspended owing to the closure of the Qatari airspace. It will provide a further update by 9 a.m. local time on Monday.
SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES
The airline told Reuters it had suspended its flight to Tel Aviv from Copenhagen on Saturday. No decision had been made regarding flights on later dates.
TURKISH AIRLINES
The airline cancelled flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman on Saturday and flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan until March 2.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Virgin Atlantic said it will temporarily avoid Iraqi airspace, resulting in some pre-planned rerouting of flights and has cancelled its VS400 service from London Heathrow to Dubai on Saturday.
WIZZ AIR
The Hungarian carrier halted flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman with immediate effect until March 7.
It added that operational decisions would continue to be reviewed and the flight schedule could be adjusted as the situation evolves.
(Compiled by Josephine Mason and Federico MaccioniReporting by Reuters bureauxEditing by Barbara Lewis, Louise Heavens, Cynthia Osterman, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Goodman)
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