Airspace closed, airlines suspend flights due to US, Israeli attack, Iran reacts | Aviation news

At least eight countries, including Iran, Israel, Jordan and Qatar, will close their airspace as global aviation is severely affected.

A wave of United States and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Tehran’s retaliation, has sparked an outbreak of regional violence, forced the closure of much of the Middle East’s airspace, and reverberated around the world.

At least eight states announced the closure of their airspace as the conflict erupted on Saturday, including Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Syria announced it had closed part of its airspace south along its border with Israel for 12 hours.

The shutdown comes after the US and Israel launched strikes across Iran after US President Donald Trump vowed to dismantle Iran’s missile industry and destroy its navy. Iran, which had been engaged in talks with the US over its nuclear program until the attack, pledged a tough response and soon launched retaliatory attacks on Israel, as well as several Gulf Arab states that host US military assets, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain.

“All American and Israeli assets and interests in the Middle East are legitimate targets,” a senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera. “There are no red lines after this invasion, and anything is possible.”

The disruption has led global airlines to cancel or divert flights from destinations across the Middle East, a key route for flights between Europe and Asia, as Russian and Ukrainian airspace is closed to most airlines due to the war there.

Russian air carriers have suspended flights to Iran and Israel, the Russian Transport Ministry said. Air India has said it will temporarily avoid the Middle East altogether.

Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, British Airways, Aegean Airlines, IndiGo, Japan Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines are among the other airlines that have announced suspensions to destinations in the region.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Doha, said the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran and Iran’s response affected several Gulf countries, creating two “parallel” conflicts and deepening instability.

“It makes the whole crisis very intertwined and very complicated in a way the region has never witnessed,” Hashem said.