Airlines scramble to divert flights following Iranian missile attack on Israel
Some 80 flights heading for major Middle East hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi were diverted on Tuesday, flight data shows
PARIS, France — Israel’s neighbors closed airspace and airline crews skirted an escalating conflict, with many seeking diversions, after Iran fired some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in its second-ever direct attack on the Jewish state. Israel closed its airspace for about an hour, Hebrew media reported, with Ben Gurion Airport reopening shortly after the attack.
A spokesperson for tracking service FlightRadar24 said flights diverted “anywhere they could,” and a snapshot of traffic in the region showed flights spreading in wide arcs to the north and south, with many converging on Cairo and Istanbul.
FlightRadar24 said Istanbul and Antalya in southern Turkey were becoming congested, forcing some airlines to divert south.
On Tuesday, about 80 flights, operated by the likes of Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and bound for major Middle East hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, were diverted to places such as Cairo and European cities, its data showed.
Many airlines have also suspended flights to the region or are avoiding use of affected air space.
Iran launched the largely unsuccessful bombardment in retaliation for the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week, and the recent killings of a slew of other senior members of Iran-backed terror groups.
Eurocontrol, a pan-European air traffic control agency, earlier sent a warning to pilots about the escalating conflict.
“A major missile attack has been launched against Israel in the last few minutes. At present the entire country is under a missile warning,” it said in an urgent navigation bulletin.
Shortly afterwards it announced the closure of Jordanian and Iraqi airspace as well as the closure of a key crossing point into airspace controlled by Cyprus.
An Iraqi pilot bulletin said its Baghdad-controlled airspace was “closed due to security until further notice.”
Iraq’s transport ministry later announced the reopening of Iraqi airspace to incoming and outgoing civilian flights at Iraqi airports. FlightRadar24 said on X that “it will be a while before flights are active there again.”
Jordan also reopened its airspace after closing it following the attack, the Jordanian state news agency reported.
Lebanon’s transport minister Ali Hamie said on X that airspace would be closed to air traffic for a two-hour period on Tuesday.
The latest disruptions were expected to deal a further blow to an industry already facing a host of restrictions due to conflicts between Israel and Hamas, and Russia and Ukraine.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
