Airlines disrupted by Iran-Israel conflict - Region
Global airlines have suspended or reduced flights in the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran rages after the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites at the weekend, and Iran retaliated hitting an American airbase in Qatar.
The United States carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear sites overnight Saturday to Sunday after over a week of deadly missile exchanges between Israel and Iran. Following that, Iran retaliated, attacking the United States by targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military installation in the Middle East.
Here is the latest airline situation:
Middle east airlines
Bahrain and Kuwait have reopened their airspace following brief precautionary closures earlier Monday, their state news agencies announced, as regional tensions ease slightly after Iranian strikes.
In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Airports resumed operations, according to the Dubai Media Office. However, authorities cautioned that passengers may still experience delays or cancellations due to earlier disruptions.
Flightradar24 added that more than 10 flights earlier had to divert from the UAE.
Meanwhile, Oman Air has temporarily suspended all flights to and from Manama, Dubai and Kuwait due to escalating regional tensions, the airline announced.
In a statement, the airline said it was "monitoring the situation closely" and would resume operations once it was deemed safe.
EgyptAir also announced the cancellation of all flights between Cairo and several cities in the Gulf due to ongoing regional tensions and the closure of airspace in multiple countries.
The airline said the decision would remain in effect until the situation stabilizes.
Before the Iranian retaliation, Qatar temporarily suspended air traffic around the country, its foreign ministry said. "The competent authorities announce the temporary suspension of air traffic in the country's airspace, as part of a set of precautionary measures taken based on developments in the region," the foreign ministry said.
European airlines
British Airways cancelled flights between London's Heathrow Airport and Dubai and Doha on Sunday following the US strikes on Iran.
The airline said Monday it was scheduled to operate those routes as normal, though there were some cancellations ahead of a clutch of evening flights.
Air France halted flights to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates until at least Tuesday inclusive, the airline said.
It also extended the suspension of the Paris-Tel Aviv route until July 14.
Flights of Air France's low-cost carrier Transavia from Paris to Beirut have been suspended until June 30 while the Tel Aviv route is closed until September 7.
Germany's Lufthansa group, whose other airlines include Swiss, Austrian and ITA, has suspended flights to the Middle East until June 30.
The Amman and Erbil, Iraq, routes were also suspended until July 11.
The group will not fly to Tel Aviv and Tehran will until July 31 and is also avoiding the air space of countries involved in the conflict.
Greece's Aegean Airlines has stopped Tel Aviv flights until July 12. Its Amman, Beirut and Erbil routes are closed until June 28.
Turkish airline Pegasus has scrapped flights to Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon until June 30, and Iran until July 30.
Flag carrier Turkish Airlines on Monday cancelled its remaining flights for the day to Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Muscat.
No Turkish Airlines flights to Baghdad, Damascus and Tehran are available before July 1.
Finnair meanwhile confirmed it was suspending flights to Doha. The carrier is also staying out of the airspace of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel.
US and Canadian airlines
United Airlines has warned passengers that flights to and from Dubai scheduled between June 18 and July 3 may be affected and is offering no-fee ticket changes under certain conditions due to Middle East unrest.
The US airline has implemented the same flexibility for Tel Aviv flights between June 13 and August 1, allowing customers to rebook for other major European cities.
Air Canada has temporarily suspended its daily non-stop service from Toronto to Dubai starting June 18 and warned the suspension could be extended.
Travel via a European stopover on a partner airline remains possible, according to its website.
American Airlines is allowing customers to change their bookings to Doha without fees for travel originally scheduled between June 19 and July 20.
Asian airlines
Singapore Airlines has cancelled eight flights to Dubai -- two per day from Sunday through Wednesday.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online
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Reporting from the front lines in Gaza and the West Bank File Photo: A Palestinian woman holds the body of her son, killed in an Israeli strike. Photo courtesy of Salma Al-Qaddoumi's Instagram. By the second month of the ongoing genocide, Gaza had already become the world's most dangerous environment for journalists. On a blistering August morning, journalists Ibrahim Muhareb, Salma Al-Qaddoumi, Ezzedine Muasher, Rasha Ahmed, and Saeed Al-Lulu were documenting displacement in Gaza's Hamad City when an Israeli tank opened fire. Muhareb was shot in the leg. Al-Qaddoumi and her friend Mahmoud rushed to carry him to safety. "But snipers opened fire on us. Ibrahim [Muhareb] was killed. Mahmoud was wounded. I was shot in the back—the bullet exited near my heart. I was clearly marked as press. I wore my vest. And yet, they aimed at us deliberately," Al-Qaddoumi told Ahram Online. 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In the northern West Bank, Obada Tahayna, Jenin-based correspondent for Al Jazeera and Free Palestine TV, faces the same threat. "In Jenin, being a journalist is extremely hazardous. Every day could be my last," Tahayna told Ahram Online. Since 21 January, Israel has carried out its most expansive military operation in the West Bank since 2002. "The vest no longer offers protection," Tahayna says. "It's a target. The occupation forces recognise it. That makes you a target for attack, pursuit, and detention." He has been beaten, detained, and had his phone confiscated—but persists. "If we fall silent, it would be as if nothing ever occurred." Media coverage of the West Bank was severely curtailed after Israel closed the Al Jazeera media office in Ramallah last September. When did journalists become targets of war? The deliberate targeting of media workers has become increasingly systematic. In 2001, the United States bombed Al Jazeera's Kabul office during its invasion of Afghanistan. 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Their presence challenges the monopoly of official narratives, and their footage often outpaces state messaging. The limits of international protection Despite protections under international humanitarian law, its application remains inconsistent. The 2002 killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl sparked global outrage and immediate diplomatic pressure. The US government launched high-level investigations, resulting in arrests and convictions. File Photo: Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. AFP By contrast, the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022—filmed, verified, and acknowledged even by Western allies—has led only to prolonged inquiries, tepid statements, and no justice. Journalists from the Global South are often seen not as independent professionals but as extensions of their geographic or political contexts. Groups such as Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and CPJ continue to track deaths, demand inquiries, and issue press freedom alerts. However, much of their work yields only expressions of solidarity, rather than justice. Malekafzali summed it up: "Reporters can be maimed, killed, obliterated … but they will always be fundamentally untrustworthy to the West unless they've been granted access to its vaulted institutions." "The Israeli victims are foregrounded," he stressed. "We know many of their names by now, even if we don't live there. But we rarely know about the Palestinians, Lebanese, and now Iranians killed by the Israeli army—except as numbers in the death toll." "We will not be silenced" Despite the risks, journalists continue working—not because they are safe, but because the world needs their voices. 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