Many countries in the Middle East shut their airspaces by late Monday, as Iran struck Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, the largest United States military base in the region, disrupting global aviation traffic.
Airlines cancelled or rerouted several flights to and from the Middle East as Qatar’s Doha airport temporarily halted operations on Monday. Iran said it was retaliating against the US strikes on its nuclear sites over the weekend.
Shortly after the Iranian attack on the US airbase in Qatar, President Donald Trump said Iran and Israel had agreed to a “complete and total” ceasefire. Though Iran and Israel independently said they had agreed to the ceasefire, their exchange of missile fire continued on Tuesday.
Since June 13, when Israel launched its wave of attacks on Iran, more than 400 Iranians have been killed and at least 3,056 others wounded, while at least 24 Israelis have been killed in Iranian retaliatory strikes.
Amid the intense conflict, air traffic in the region thinned dramatically, including over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, in addition to the Palestinian territory, Iran, and Israel.
So, are airlines stopping flights to the Middle East? What is the importance of this aviation zone? And how long can airlines suspend flights to parts of the Middle East?