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Flights operated by European airlines have been squeezed into a narrow air corridor by the war between Israel and Iran, adding to the industry’s challenges after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in India last week.
Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and Wizz Air are among more than 150 carriers worldwide that have suspended flights or been forced into costly detours after airspace over Israel, Iraq and Jordan was closed last weekend.
Analysts said the disruption is particularly problematic for European airlines, which are already avoiding Russian airspace on flights to Asia, on account of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
One person familiar with the thinking of a major European airline said that while they were accustomed to dealing with periodic airspace closures, the current situation was “more serious” because airlines now had a “really small corridor” in which to fly.
“We have to go around Russia already, so it does make it very difficult,” the person said.
Carriers have been forced to adapt routes more often in recent years due to military conflicts around the globe. Airlines have stopped and restarted services to Tel Aviv and other destinations in the Middle East multiple times since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023.
Shares in major airlines have fallen since Israel launched attacks on Iran’s military infrastructure on Thursday last week, with European carriers the hardest hit.
Detours increase fuel costs, extend flight times and disrupt airline schedules, leading to higher operational charges. The rise in the price of oil — Brent crude has risen roughly 8 per cent to $70.8 per barrel since last Thursday — will also drive up fuel costs.
The recent turmoil unfolded just one day after more than 290 people died when a London-bound Air India flight crashed, which analysts believe will make passengers nervous about booking flights on a Boeing Dreamliner.
“The Air India [crash] happened and literally a day later the war started,” said Steve Trent, an airline analyst at Citigroup. “Issues just keep piling up.”
There have been more than 3,000 flight cancellations in the Middle East since the Israel-Iran war broke out, according to data provider Flightradar24. Its data showed airspace broadly clear over Iran, Iraq and Syria, with flights instead going on reroutes across Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
However, European airlines, including Air France-KLM and Lufthansa — which have both cancelled or rerouted dozens of flights over the past few days — have now decided not to fly over northern Saudi Arabia due to safety concerns.
Avoiding Russian airspace has already been costly for European carriers, many of which scaled back or suspended flights to east Asia as a result. Chinese carriers still fly across Russia, while US airlines are able to fly across the Pacific.
Further restrictions on available airspace are “a headache [for the airlines] as this is a busy part of the world . . . anything that requires rerouting is expensive”, said aviation consultant John Strickland.
Lufthansa said the current diversions meant the journey from Frankfurt or Munich to east Asia was taking up to one hour longer. One carrier said it was concerned that if the Israel-Iran conflict broadened, more routes might require stops for aircraft to refuel and swap crews.
Middle Eastern airlines, including Qatar Airways and Emirates — which typically fly more than 100 flights a day using Iranian and Iraqi airspace — were among those most affected by cancellations, according to FR24 data.
Data visualisation by Steve Bernard
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