On October 1, British Airways, Emirates, Deutsche Lufthansa, and other major airlines began diverting flights away from Iraqi airspace after Israel’s military reported that rockets had been fired from Iran. As a result, many carriers redirected their planes over Saudi Arabian and Egyptian airspace, avoiding the conflict zone entirely.
Playback data from FlightRadar24 shows that several flights from Europe to destinations in the Middle East and beyond now traverse the breadth of Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula. Dutch carrier KLM also confirmed it had rerouted some of its services to avoid the airspaces of Iran, Iraq, and Jordan.
This situation further complicates global airline schedules, as detours increase flight times, fuel costs, and logistical challenges for carriers. The shift comes as airlines in Europe, the US, and Canada are already grappling with additional costs from circumventing Russian airspace on flights to Asia.
