Iran attack on Israel disrupts flight schedules for major Arab airlines

Shafaq News/ Major airlines across the Middle East announced the cancellation of some of their flights, while having to reroute others, after Iran launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel through Saturday night into Sunday.

Emirates Airlines cancelled some of its fights, while Etihad Airways cancelled services to Tel Aviv and Amman on Sunday.

"Some of our flights have been affected by the temporary closure of a number of airspaces in the region," a statement from the United Arab Emirate's Fly Dubai was quoted on state news agency WAM as saying.

The attack spurred similar announcements from Lebanon, Egypt and Kuwait following several Arab countries announcing the temporary closure of their airspaces.

Israel reopened its airspace as of 7:30 a.m. (0430 GMT) on Sunday, adding that flight schedules from Tel Aviv were expected to be affected and travellers should check flight times before going to Ben Gurion International Airport.

Flag carrier El Al said it had resumed operations and was "working to stabilise the flight schedule as soon as possible".

"El Al will continue to operate as much as possible to preserve the air bridge to and from Israel," it said.

The airline had cancelled 15 flights to Europe, Dubai and Moscow scheduled for Sunday while flights that had taken off from Bangkok and Phuket were forced to return.

Smaller Israeli carrier Arkia said it was in the process of making adjustments to its flight schedule after initially postponing flights to Athens, Milan and Geneva.

According to the airports authority, most flights of foreign carriers have been delayed, including Sunday flights to London by Wizz Air, to New Delhi by Air India, to Madrid by Iberia and to Marseille by Air France.

El Al's flights to London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Bucharest, Athens, Paris and Rome and Ethiopian Airline's flight to Addis Ababa were able to take off.

Flights into Israel were also disrupted.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways cancelled flights to Jordan and Israel on Sunday, the airline said in a statement.

Swiss International Air Lines has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice, the airline said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday.

Swiss, which is owned by German carrier Lufthansa, said all of its planes were avoiding the airspaces of Iran, Iraq and Israel, causing delays to flights from India and Singapore.

United Airlines cancelled Saturday's planned flight from Newark to Tel Aviv due to restrictions on Israeli airspace, the airline said in a statement.

United is the only major U.S. airline to have resumed flights to Israel since the attacks by Hamas on Israel in October last year.

Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon reopened their airspaces on Sunday after closing them late on Saturday.