According to the news agency Reuters report, airlines faced flight disruptions across the world due to the conflict that erupted between Iran and Israel over the Syria attack.
Iran fired missiles and drones towards North Israel, which further narrowed options for planes navigating between Europe and Asia. Over 300 missiles and drones were fired from Iran's side, which was 99% shot down by the U.S.-backed missile defence system. This has caused chaos in the aviation industry.
More than a dozen airlines have cancelled or changed their flight routes over the last two days, including Air India, Qantas, Germany's Lufthansa, and United Airlines.
An Air India official on Sunday announced that "Flight operations to and from Israel are likely to be suspended, an official announcement will follow." India's two major airlines - Air India and Vistara, have announced the avoidance of Iranian airspace and are taking longer flight paths for their Europe and US operations to ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
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According to Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP report, this disruption was the biggest in history since the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. "Not since then have we had a situation with that many different air spaces closed down in that quick succession, and that creates chaos," Zee told Reuters, adding that disruptions were likely to last a couple more days.
Airlines are already facing many routing problems due to conflicts between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine. These latest tensions will be a big blow to the aviation industry economically. European and Asian airlines, which used Iran's airspace, were restricted due to conflict and rerouted via Turkey or Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Israel closed its airspace on Saturday (April 13) before reopening it on Sunday morning. Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon also resumed flights over their territories. Airlines, including Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways, said on Sunday they would resume operations in the region after cancelling or rerouting some flights.
Independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie told Reuters that it was not yet clear if the latest unrest would impact passenger demand, which has remained robust despite ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.