Middle East Airspace Closed... "Aviation Chaos" as US-Iran Conflict Escalates

As a result of the large-scale airstrikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, airspace across the Middle East has been closed, causing disruptions to global air travel.

According to the aviation industry, as Iran began retaliatory attacks on U.S. military bases in the region, most Middle Eastern routes are facing significant operational challenges as of February 28 (local time).

Since the United States and Israel are expected to continue airstrikes on Iran for several days, and Iran is also expected to launch missile attacks in retaliation against Israel and regional U.S. military bases, the turmoil is likely to persist.

The Iranian Civil Aviation Organization announced that, following the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, the country's airspace has been closed indefinitely. Previously, it had declared a six-hour airspace closure, but this has now been extended indefinitely.

The first charter flight carrying Korean tourists took off from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is arriving at Incheon International Airport. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Israel also announced an airspace closure, including a ban on civilian aircraft entering its airspace.

Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose U.S. military bases were attacked within their territories, also announced that they would temporarily close their own airspace. Syria has also temporarily closed its airspace as a precautionary measure.

Global airlines that have been notified of Middle Eastern airspace closures are also announcing consecutive cancellations of flights to the region.

Turkish Airlines has announced the cancellation of flights to the Middle East due to the closure of airspace in the region, and Emirates, the UAE's national carrier, stated that several of its flights are experiencing disruptions.

British Airways said it will cancel flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 3 due to the airstrikes on Iran and added that flights departing for Amman, Jordan, on the same day have also been canceled.

Russian authorities also announced a suspension of flights to Iran and Israel until further notice.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.