Airspace closures throughout the Middle East ground, divert flights as Iran launches drone attack on Israel
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El Al plane is seen at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Airspace closures through the Middle East grounded and diverted flights on Saturday as Iran launched drones toward Israel.
United Airlines, which resumed service to Tel Aviv early last month after suspending Israel flights after the Hamas attacks in October, called off its Newark to Tel Aviv flight on Saturday after Israel closed its airspace. Jordan and Iraq had also closed their airspace, according to Jordanian state-owned media news outlet Al Mamlaka.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and will make decisions on upcoming flights with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews,” United said in a statement. The carrier is the only U.S. airline to have resumed service to Israel since October. Delta was scheduled to restart flights to Tel Aviv on June. 7. American Airlines has not resumed Israel service.
United also canceled its flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Amman, Jordan on Saturday night, “due to unrest in the Middle East.”
It was not clear when flights would resume.
Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 said multiple flights bound for Tel Aviv and Amman had diverted on Saturday.
Airlines also canceled service scheduled for Sunday. Israel’s El Al cancelled 14 Sunday flights, Emirates Airline canceled its Dubai-Amman flight scheduled for Sunday. Air France’s Israel service was canceled for Sunday and British Airways canceled its two flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and scrubbed a flight to Amman.
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