Major airlines cancel, reroute flights after Israeli attack on Iran
Dubai's Flydubai said it had cancelled its Friday flights to Iran
Airlines changed flight paths over Iran, cancelled some flights, diverted others to alternate airports or returned planes to their departure points on Friday due to airspace and airport closures and security concerns after an Israeli attack on Iran.
Iran closed its airports in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan after the attack and cleared flights from the western portion of its airspace for a few hours after the attack, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
By 0445 GMT the airports and airspace had reopened, and closure notices posted on a US Federal Aviation Administration database had been removed.
Before the airports reopened, Flydubai said it had cancelled its Friday flights to Iran. One of its earlier flights turned back to Dubai, it said.
"We are monitoring the situation closely and will make changes to our flight paths in consultation with the relevant authorities," Flydubai said in a statement.
An Iran Air flight from Rome to Tehran was diverted to Ankara, Turkey, Flightradar 24 showed.
Germany's Lufthansa cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv and Erbil until Saturday and said it would fly around Iraqi airspace during the same period.
"The safety of passengers and crews is always the top priority," it said.
United Airlines said it would cancel its daily flight from Newark to Tel Aviv through May 2, while Air Canada said it was pausing operations to and from Tel Aviv until June end.
Steering clear
Many Western and Asian airlines had already been steering clear of Iran and its airspace before the Israeli attack, which came days after Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel.
Lufthansa on Wednesday extended a suspension of flights to Tehran until the end of the month, citing ongoing security concerns in the region.
Australia's Qantas Airways said on Saturday it was rerouting flights between Perth and London on concerns about the Middle East, adding a fuel stop in Singapore as it avoided Iran's airspace.
Taiwan's China Airlines said in a statement that it "continues to pay attention to the situation as it develops and plans the most appropriate routes in accordance with the recommendations of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency".
Taiwan's EVA Air told Reuters that its flights had already been avoiding Iranian air space.