Middle East flight disruptions: KLM, Air France, and Lufthansa suspend routes amid US-Iran standoff | World News
International air travel in the Middle East is facing a rare complete shutdown as global carriers cancel flights and reroute routes to avoid potential war zones after the threat of a direct military conflict between the United States and Iran. Following the increasing tension, KLM, Lufthansa and Air France immediately suspended their flights.
The outages have hit major global hubs such as Dubai, Riyadh and Tel Aviv, stranding thousands of passengers and shrinking air corridors.
Major carriers provide regional service
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Air France announced that all flights to Dubai have been officially suspended, citing the unstable geopolitical climate. In a statement made by AFP, the plane announced that it was monitoring this situation in real time to guarantee the safety of its crew and passengers.
Dutch airline KLM simultaneously announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh. The company confirmed to NOS that it will no longer enter Iranian, Iraqi or Israeli airspace.
Lufthansa Group has adopted a limited schedule to fly to Israel during daylight hours, while maintaining the ban on Iranian skies. On the other side of the world, United Airlines and Air Canada have suspended all flights to Israel.
Trigger: US ‘navy’ approaching the Gulf
While US President Donald Trump confirmed that “a massive naval armada, including an aircraft carrier and its escorting destroyers” led by the “USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group” was heading towards the Persian Gulf, the main reason for the aviation panic is the increase in military build-ups.
“We have a lot of ships heading in that direction just in case,” the president told reporters, describing the deployment as a “precautionary force operation against Iran.” This followed a period of major civil unrest in the Islamic Republic, where the US government expressed concern about the regime’s effort to suppress the uprising.
Airspace closure and missile threats
Urgent warnings have been issued by various aviation security organizations regarding the potential for the presence of missiles and drones to disrupt civil air services. The memory of past disruptions is still fresh in our minds; Last week, Iran closed all of its airspace due to fears of impending attack by the United States, causing a series of delays around the world.
Airlines now have to contend with a logistical nightmare to get around Iran and Iraq, which are used as main routes for ferry services from Europe to Asia.
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