Airlines face fresh upheaval as Gulf countries shut airspace

Airlines were on fresh alert late on Monday after the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait closed their countries' airspace temporarily as Iran attacked the Al Udeid US military base in Doha, the latest upheaval to air travel in the Middle East.

On Sunday, the US attacked key Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran vowed to defend itself, prompting many carriers to suspend more flights to the Middle East.

Explosions were heard over Qatar's capital Doha on Monday evening, shortly after a Western diplomat cited a credible Iranian threat against the US-run Al Udeid air base in Qatar state since midday.

United Arab Emirates airspace was also closed based on flight paths and air traffic control audio, according to a post on X by the air traffic tracking website Flightradar24 on Monday. Dubai

Flightradar24 showed virtually no air traffic in the Gulf and over Qatar and Bahrain about 1735 GMT in what earlier in the day had been a busy space filled with commercial flights.

Carriers had been likely avoiding airports in UAE and Qatar and, to a lesser extent, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, due to concerns that Iran or its proxies will target drone or missile attacks on US military bases in these countries, aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions said.

The conflict has already cut off major flight routes, with the usually busy airspace stretching from Iran and Iraq to the Mediterranean largely void of commercial air traffic since Israel began strikes on Iran on June 13. Airlines have been diverting, cancelling and delaying flights through the region due to airspace closures and safety concerns.

Kuwait Airways suspended on Monday its flight departures from the country.

Three Air India flights headed to Doha were diverted to other airports due to the airspace closing, according to a source and data from Flightradar24. Up to 150 flights had been scheduled in and out of Doha on Monday, the data showed.

IAG's Spanish airline Iberia scrapped an earlier plan to resume flights to Doha on Tuesday after the latest airspace closures.

SUSPENSIONS

Earlier in the day, airlines had been weighing how long to suspend flights for. Finnair was the first to announce a prolonged suspension of flights to Doha, with cancellations until June 30.

Leading Asian carrier Singapore Airlines, which described the situation as "fluid", moved to cancel flights to Dubai through to Tuesday, having previously cancelled only its Sunday service.

Air France KLM, IAG-owned Iberia and British Airways, and Kazakhstan's Air Astana all cancelled flights to either Doha or Dubai both on Sunday and Monday.

Air France also cancelled flights to Riyadh and said it would suspend flights to and from Beirut, Lebanon until Wednesday included.

With Russian and Ukrainian airspace also closed to most airlines due to years of war, the Middle East had become a more important route for flights between Europe and Asia. Amid missile and air strikes during the past 10 days, airlines have routed north via the Caspian Sea or south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Added to increased fuel and crew costs from these long detours and cancellations, carriers also face a potential hike in jet fuel costs as oil prices rise following the US attacks.

Australia-based Flight Centre Travel Group said it is getting a small number of customer requests to route journeys to Europe away from Middle Eastern hubs.

"The most common transfer hubs that we're seeing requested are Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Johannesburg, or even direct between Perth and London," said Graham Turner, CEO of Australia-based Flight Centre Travel Group.

AIRSPACE RISKS

Proliferating conflict zones are an increasing operational burden on airlines, as aerial attacks raise worries about accidental or deliberate shoot-downs of commercial air traffic.

GPS interference around political hotspots, where ground-based GPS systems "spoof" or broadcast incorrect positions which can send commercial airliners off course, are also a growing issue for commercial aviation.

Flightradar24 told Reuters it had seen a "dramatic increase" in jamming and spoofing in recent days over the Persian Gulf. SkAI, a Swiss company that runs a GPS disruption map, said late on Sunday it had observed more than 150 aircraft spoofed there in 24 hours.

Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organisation that shares flight risk information, said US attacks on Iran's nuclear sites could heighten the threat to American operators in the region.

This could raise additional airspace risks in Gulf states like Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it said.

In the days before the U.S. strikes, American Airlines suspended flights to Qatar, and United Airlines and Air Canada did the same with flights to Dubai. They have yet to resume.

Reuters