EU agency extends warning on flights to Mideast, including Israel, through May 1
Still too soon to say if extension of Iran truce will lead to ‘sustained reduction of risk to civil aviation,’ safety agency says, amid faltering efforts for permanent ceasefire
The European Union’s aviation agency on Friday renewed its warning for airlines to avoid most Middle East airspace, including Israel, citing “risks to civil aviation” and uncertainty about the ceasefire with Iran.
The warning was set to expire on Friday, but was instead extended by a week — through May 1. It came days after US President Donald Trump indefinitely extended a ceasefire with Iran, while saying that the US would maintain a blockade of Iranian ports.
“A temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran, announced on 8 April 2026, has been extended,” the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said. “However, its implementation remains uncertain and therefore requires further monitoring to assess whether it leads to a sustained reduction of risk to civil aviation.”
Efforts to end the war have faltered over the US and Iran’s competing blockades of the Strait of Hormuz and the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel and the US launched a bombing campaign on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes across the region.
The conflict triggered massive disruptions in transportation worldwide, which have since eased, though travel in much of the Middle East and the Gulf region remains restricted.
Despite the ceasefire, major European airlines, including the Lufthansa Group, have kept suspending flights to and from Israel through April and into May, while US carriers have pushed back their return to as far as September.
The Times of Israel Community.