News / Airlines scramble to avoid Middle East airspace as missiles fly

Israeli, Jordan and Iraqi airspace is temporarily closed after Iran’s biggest-ever missile attack on Israel yesterday, with disruption to air cargo traffic expected.  

Israeli officials reported that Iran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at the country last night, following days of attacks on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Lebanon. 

A large number of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli and US defences, and Israeli officials said they were unaware of any casualties.  

Lufthansa Cargo told its customers Israeli airspace would be avoided, regardless of its short-term flight schedule adjustment that would run until 31 October.  

Flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut will be suspended until 31 October and 30 November, respectively. 

Lufthansa Airlines had already decided to suspend flights to Tehran until the end of its summer flight schedule on 26 October, but the cargo division told The Loadstar “all other airlines within the group, which usually serve Teheran, will evaluate this on a regular basis from 14 October”.

According to FlightRadar, Lufthansa turned back at least three flights bound for India and Dubai to Frankfurt yesterday, extending flight times by up to eight hours. 

Multiple airlines have been forced to divert flights or make emergency landings, including Swiss, Emirates, British Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines and El Al. 

Swiss WorldCargo updated its 14-day network to inform that it would not operate daily flight LX252 from Switzerland to Tel Aviv or daily flight LX253 ex-Tel Aviv. 

“The schedules are subject to change due to the constantly evolving situation around the world… These are unprecedented times are a challenge for various industries… We are looking at different solutions and options to ensure that we can continue supporting the vital flow of goods around the world,” the Swiss carrier said.  

Euronews reported that a total of 81 flights were diverted by 16 airlines yesterday, manyEurope-to-Asia. There are also reports that some 85% of departures from Dubai International Airport were delayed as carriers scrambled to avoid the Middle East.  

As of today, Israel, Jordan and Iraq have reopened their airspace, though air traffic in the regions remains limited. 

Iran has extended the closure of its airspace in anticipation of a potential Israeli retaliation. Indeed, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said: “Iran made a big mistake – and it will pay for it.” 

The United Nations Security Council had scheduled an emergency meeting for this morning at 10am. The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said he had called for the emergency session “to discuss this unprecedented attack and to issue a clear, unequivocal condemnation of Iran”. 

As well as airspace restrictions, rising concerns of escalating tensions in the Middle East will have other knock-on effects on supply chains. According to Reuters, fears that crude oil output from the region could be disrupted led to a jump in prices by more than a dollar today. 

“Brent futures rose $0.83, or 1.13%, to $74.39 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $0.88, or 1.26%, to $70.71, coming slightly down from spiking by more than $1 earlier in the session,” it said.  

“During trading on Tuesday, both crude benchmarks jumped more than 5%.” 

Xeneta Airfreight Analyst, Wenwen Zhang, told The Loadstar: “Further escalation in conflict could see additional war risk surcharges introduced for air cargo being shipped into or out of affected regions in Middle East. There could also be further disruption to air cargo supply chains through delays at airports in the region.

“Air freight rates spiked in October last year following the initial escalation in conflict between Israel and Hamas, so a further deterioration in the political situation could have similar repercussions for the market,” she warned.