According to data from the flight tracking website FlightRadar24, following the US airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, airlines continued to avoid much of the airspace in the Middle East on Sunday (June 22). Due to recent missile exchanges between Israel and Iran, flights in the region had already begun to reroute.
FlightRadar24 stated on the social media platform X, “After the US airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, commercial flights in the region are still operating under new airspace restrictions implemented last week.”
The website shows that airlines are still not flying over Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Israel, opting for alternate routes such as through the northern Caspian Sea or over southern Egypt and Saudi Arabia, despite the increased costs in fuel and crew expenses as well as longer flight times.
However, on June 21, Iran’s Mahan Air announced on its WeChat public account the resumption of some flights to China.
As global conflict zones continue to expand, with missile and drone attacks on the rise, the risks faced by air traffic are increasingly higher.
Since Israel’s airstrikes on Iran on June 13, airlines from various countries have suspended flights to destinations in the affected countries, with some flights specifically used for evacuating stranded workers or Israeli citizens.
On Sunday, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 21 individuals, including 16 Japanese citizens, had been evacuated from Iran by land and relocated to Azerbaijan. This marks the second evacuation operation since Thursday, with further evacuations to be considered based on the situation.
The New Zealand government declared on Sunday that they will send a Hercules military transport aircraft to the Middle East on standby to evacuate New Zealand citizens from the region. In a statement, the government mentioned that government personnel and a C-130J Hercules transport aircraft will depart from Auckland on Monday. The statement noted that it would take several days for the aircraft to arrive in the area. The government also mentioned ongoing discussions with commercial airlines to assess potential assistance they may provide.
(Reference: Reuters)