Airspace closed, airlines halt flights

New Delhi: A wave of United States and Israeli strikes on Iran, and retaliation by Tehran, have triggered an outburst of regional violence, forcing much of the Middle East’s airspace to shut down and reverberating across the globe.

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

The embassy also gave a WhatsApp number (+971543090571) along with two email IDs (pbsk.dubai@mea.gov.in and ca.abudhabi@mea.gov.in) for Indian nationals there to contact in case of emergency.

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

Russia’s Ministry of Transport said Russian air carriers had suspended flights to Iran and ⁠Israel. Air India said it would temporarily avoid the Middle East altogether.

Among other airlines announcing suspensions to destinations in the region were Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, British Airways, Aegean Airlines, Indigo, Japan Airlines and Scandinavian A