Air France-KLM halts Dubai, Riyadh flights on geopolitical risks
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Empty airspace over Iran in January, during a temporary closure of the country's airspace.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
Air France-KLM has paused flights to and over several countries in the Middle East amid tensions between the US and Iran that could reverberate across the Persian Gulf.
Air France cancelled flights between Paris and Dubai on Jan 23 and Jan 24, temporarily suspending service to the emirate “due to the current situation in the Middle East”, the airline said in a statement.
Dutch carrier KLM has halted flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia and Tel Aviv until further notice. The airline is currently avoiding the airspace over several countries in the Gulf, as well as Iran, Iraq and Israel as a precaution, the airline said separately.
The cancellations highlight how geopolitical tensions can quickly disrupt civil aviation. They come after President Donald Trump said the US has deployed naval assets to the Middle East, renewing concerns he may follow through on threats to attack Iran over the government’s violent crackdown on protesters.
British Airways temporarily halted flights to Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, earlier in January.
Several European and American carriers also paused operations to Gulf countries last June before Iran fired missiles at a base in Qatar. The missile strikes forced Qatar and surrounding countries to close their airspace and created havoc for international airlines. Bloomberg
