It was to be expected: the conflict between Iran and Israel immediately led to a suspension of flights and changes of trajectory in the aviation sector. With tensions rising from Friday onwards, many airlines decided to suspend their frequencies in the region. This affected Israel and Iran, as well as neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. A cascade of cancellations and delays followed. Many airlines took a more southerly route to avoid the conflict zone. This may mean longer flight times between Europe and Asia.
Back to near-normal this Monday
However, from Sunday, all countries had reopened their airspace. But the difficulties remain. Swiss has announced that it is suspending its services to Tel Aviv until further notice. EasyJet has announced that it is suspending its services to Tel Aviv until 21 April. Austrian Airlines has also suspended all its services to Tehran until further notice. The airline had previously stated continue flights at different times last week.
On Monday, Air France cancelled its service to Tel Aviv. But from Tuesday, thehe AF958 flight departing Paris at 9.30am will resume service. El Al flights are all being maintained. So are the Royal Jordanian flight from Paris (departing at 4.00pm) and the Middle East Airlines flight to Lebanon (departing at 1.40pm). Air France has also resumed its frequencies to Beirut.
The vast majority of airlines now avoid Iranian airspace. This can lead to delays between Europe and Asia. For example, on the morning of 15 April at Roissy CDG, Air France flights to Dubai and Singapore were delayed, according to the Flightradar24.com website. And there was uncertainty over the departure time of the Thai Airways International flight from the French capital.
It is therefore best to reconfirm departure times with your respective carrier. Especially as the European aviation regulator has just reaffirmed its recommendation to airlines to exercise caution in Israeli and Iranian airspace. It has, however, specified that no civilian overflights were endangered during the weekend tensions. EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency) will continue to monitor the situation closely to assess any risk to the safety of EU-registered aircraft.
