Major airlines have suspended flights to the Middle East amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran. This includes Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS and United Airlines after US President Trump said there was a military « armada » headed for Iran.
This has left thousands of passengers stranded or attempting to rebook other itineraries at the last minute, with disruption expected to continue through the weekend. International carriers have already been avoiding Iranian airspace in recent weeks, but escalating tensions now threaten airspace safety across the Middle East region.
Airline Concerns Over Airspace Safety
Several airlines have made abrupt changes to their Middle Eastern operations as geopolitical tensions in the region escalate. Dutch carrier KLM has suspended all flights to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while 
Air France has temporarily halted its services to 
Dubai International Airport (DXB). KLM added that it would be avoiding flying through regional airspace on applicable long-haul routes, avoiding the airspace of several countries, including Iraq and Iran.
These two European carriers were not alone in canceling services to Israel, with Air Canada, British Airways and United Airlines also suspending their flights to Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) over the weekend. Additionally, Lufthansa Group revealed this week that it would no longer operate night flights to Israel, restricting itself to daytime operations until the end of January. The heightened security fears were stoked by recent comments from President Trump, who said an « armada » of ships and additional firepower is headed for the region. Trump said on Thursday,
« If you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit. It’ll make what we did to your Iran nuclear program look like peanuts. »
A Volatile Situation
With many analysts believing a US strike on Iranian soil could be imminent, airlines are not taking any chances. Airlines are extremely cautious about operating flights in regions of active or potential conflict. Given the slim but very real risk of being mistakenly targeted by defense systems, most airlines will adopt alternative routings when possible.
Recent tragedies — such as Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 in December 2024 or Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — both involved state military actors inadvertently shooting down civilian airliners, and there is also the possibility of midair collisions between commercial and military aircraft, as was observed around Venezuelan and Caribbean airspace in recent weeks.
Given the importance of Middle Eastern airspace as a busy overflight zone between Europe and Asia, avoiding the region suddenly becomes much more costly to an airline compared to a single country airspace shutdown. When you also factor in that Russian airspace — which would ordinarily be a viable alternative — remains closed off to most Western carriers, airlines are highly restricted in their rerouting options.
How Airlines Are Avoiding War Zones As Tensions Mount
Several airlines have canceled flights or diverted routes as airspace closures have taken effect over parts of Israel, Iraq, and Jordan.
Airlines Consider The Cost
Over the past few weeks, most airlines have been flying around Iranian airspace, but the cost of doing so is fairly minimal, with other surrounding airspace regions remaining open. However, using KLM’s case, the current situation has expanded this no-fly area to several countries, forcing significant changes to many of its long-haul routes.
Longer routings can stretch an airline’s resources in several ways, most importantly, by adding fuel costs due to the extra flight time. An airline that is already running a fine margin on certain routes will now find these services unprofitable, with the additional flying time accruing tens of thousands in extra fuel and crew costs.
Then there is the cost of rebooking or compensating affected passengers who may be missing onward connections. Thousands of passengers have reportedly been left stranded at various Middle Eastern airports, with their airlines unclear over when services could resume. The range limitations of some aircraft models can also lead to further headaches, forcing the redeployment of longer-range planes and disrupting an airline’s network.