After the US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, Israel reopened its airspace for 6 hours on June 22 to serve rescue flights, support those stranded abroad to return and help foreign tourists leave Israel. These flights were expanded from June 23, with a plan to operate 24 flights per day, each carrying a maximum of 50 passengers.
Israel's El Al airline said it had received about 25,000 requests to leave the country in just one day. El Al is expected to resume operations with 8 international destinations on June 23 to meet the sudden increase in demand.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel said Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and a small airport in Haifa were open from 11am to 5pm GMT on June 22 to welcome special flights. It is estimated that there are about 40,000 foreign tourists trying to leave Israel, some of whom travel across the Jordan border to Amman and Aqaba, others choose a journey through Egypt or by boat to the island of cyberspace.
The aviation situation in the Middle East has become seriously disrupted since the conflict between Iran and Israel escalated on June 13. International airlines have stopped flying over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. Many flights are forced to turn northward across the Caspian Sea or southward across Egypt and Saudi Arabia, increasing fuel costs, personnel and flight times.
Major airlines such as Air France KLM have canceled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh for two days, June 22-23. Singapore Airlines canceled flights from Singapore to Dubai for security reasons, while British Airways stopped operating flights to Dubai and Doha on June 22.
Singapore Airlines warned that other flights to Dubai may continue to be affected due to unstable conditions. British Airways allows passengers with schedules from now until June 24 to change their tickets for free until July 6.
Safe Airspace warned that US airstrikes could increase risks to civil aviation in the region, although no specific threats have been made.
The risk zone is now expanded to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Safe Airspace said Iran had vowed to retaliate against the US by attacking US military interests in the region, possibly through proxies like Hezbollah.
In addition to security concerns, airlines are also closely monitoring oil prices, as there is a risk of a sharp increase in aviation fuel costs after the attack.
