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FlightRadar image: 17.6.25
By Alex Lennane
Airspace closures and rising fuel prices are making life more challenging than ever for the airline sector – but freight markets in general are not seeing a huge impact.
Closures to airspace around Israel, Iran, and Iraq, following the new outbreak of hostilities, has led to schedule changes and longer routes for some carriers.
El Al is suspending all flights until 20 June, at the earliest, but according to CH Aviation, many routes will be stopped until 23 June while El Al aircraft are stuck at their respective destinations, unable to return to their hub.
In a statement, head of Oman Air Cargo, Mike Duggan said: “We are closely monitoring the situation in the region and remain in active coordination with the relevant authorities.
“At present, the impact on our network has been limited to our services to and from Amman, where a number of flights have been cancelled. All other routes continue to operate as scheduled, with some European services rerouted to avoid affected airspace.
“These adjustments, while operationally challenging, are made with one priority in mind: the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure that our services remain safe and reliable, and we continue to assess the situation carefully.”
Lufthansa Cargo told The Loadstar that it has suspended several flights to the Middle East.
“Flights to Tel Aviv (TLV) and Tehran (IKA) are suspended up until and including July 31, 2025. Bookings and acceptance of shipments to the above-mentioned stations are not possible until further notice.
“Flights to Amman (AMM), Beirut (BEY), and Erbil (EBL) are suspended up until and including June 20, 2025. Bookings and acceptance of shipments for temperature-sensitive shipments (ACT, PAS, ICE, PER), time-critical shipments (BXO), animal transport (AVI, AVP, AVX) and repatriation of human remains (HUM) are not possible until further notice.”
It added: “Against this backdrop, Lufthansa Group will refrain from using the airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan until further notice. Due to the altered flight paths, flight times to some destinations in Asia may be extended by up to one hour.”
Cargolux was forced to deny it had flown into Iranian airspace after a flight-tracking app appeared to release false data. The carrier confirmed it had made no deviations from approved routes and said none of its flights uses Iranian airspace.
Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon also temporarily suspended flight operations, but seem to have re-opened; Jordan is requiring operators to carry enough fuel for a 30-minute flight deviation.
Jet fuel prices are also expected to rise sharply, with concerns over the movement of fuel via the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global fuel passes.
Deutsche Bank warned yesterday that Middle Eastern oil could be blocked from the global market, leading to a price surge. Iran produced about 3.4m barrels of oil a day in May and exported about 1.7m barrels daily, or 1.6% of global oil demand. China is the biggest importer of Iranian oil.
According to IATA’s jet fuel monitor, oil prices have been steadily increasing through June, but have mostly fallen since the start of the year.
However, in general, freight markets have not yet been impacted.
“The Israel – Iran conflict that broke out late last week has so far not had a significant impact on freight markets,” noted Freightos today.
“One major concern is that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz – through which normal movement continues for now – disrupting the estimated 20% of global oil supply that flows on tankers through the waterway, increasing oil prices and creating international pressure on Israel.
“Iran may hesitate to do so though, both because their oil exports are dependent on the Strait and because there may be sufficient supply at the moment to blunt any impact on fuel prices.
“Only 2 to 3% of global container volumes transit the Strait of Hormuz, so disruptions to the container market would be felt primarily in the Middle East. But closure of the strait would cut off access to Dubai’s Port of Jebel Ali, a major transhipment hub between the Far East and points to the west.
“Tranship volumes would need to be shifted possibly to South Asian hubs, which could cause congestion and higher freight rates. Israeli container carrier ZIM Lines reports that operations at Israel’s Haifa and Ashdod ports are normal despite Iranian missile and drone attacks.”
Meanwhile, there are growing fears of tanker collisions, owing to the ”electronic war”.
GPS-jamming is leading to ships disappearing from trackers, and disruption of ships’ operations, according to UKMTO (the UK’s maritime safety organisation).
This morning, two tankers collided off the UAE coast, one en route from Fujairah to the Suez Canal, the other going from the UAE to China, according to media.
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