Airspace closures throughout the Middle East ground, divert flights as Iran launches drone attack on Israel

Airspace
closures
through
the
Middle
East
grounded
and
diverted
flights
on
Saturday
as
Iran

launched
drones
toward

Israel.

United
Airlines,
which
resumed
service
to
Tel
Aviv
early
last
month
after
suspending
Israel
flights
after
the
Hamas
attacks
in
October,
called
off
its
Newark
to
Tel
Aviv
flight
on
Saturday
after
Israel
closed
its
airspace.
Jordan
and
Iraq
had
also
closed
their
airspace,
according
to
Jordanian
state-owned
media
news
outlet
Al
Mamlaka.

“We
are
closely
monitoring
the
situation
and
will
make
decisions
on
upcoming
flights
with
a
focus
on
the
safety
of
our
customers
and
crews,”
United
said
in
a
statement.
The
carrier
is
the
only
U.S.
airline
to
have
resumed
service
to
Israel
since
October.


Delta
was
scheduled
to
restart
flights
to
Tel
Aviv
on
June.
7.


American
Airlines
has
not
resumed
Israel
service.

United
also
canceled
its
flight
from
Washington
Dulles
International
Airport
to
Amman,
Jordan
on
Saturday
night, “due
to
unrest
in
the
Middle
East.”
United
also
canceled
its
Newark-Dubai
flight
on
Sunday.

It
was
not
clear
when
flights
would
resume.

Some
flights
avoided
large
swaths
of
airspace
in
the
Middle
East,
reroutes
that
delayed
some
planes,

Swiss
International
Airlines
said.

Flight-tracking
site
Flightradar24
said
multiple
flights
bound
for
Tel
Aviv
and
Amman
had
diverted
on
Saturday.

Airlines
also
canceled
service
scheduled
for
Sunday.
Israel’s
El
Al
cancelled
more
than
20
Sunday
flights.
Two
El
Al
flights
headed
for
Israel
from
Thailand
diverted
to
Bangkok.
The
carrier
told
passengers
not
to
come
to
the
airport
until
notified.

Emirates
Airline
canceled
its
Dubai-Amman
flight
scheduled
for
Sunday.
Air
France’s
Israel
service
was
canceled
for
Sunday
and
British
Airways
canceled
its
two
flights
to
Tel
Aviv
on
Sunday
and
scrubbed
a
flight
to
Amman.
Lufthansa
also
canceled
its
service
to
Israel.