Iran has reopened its airspace after temporarily closing it for nearly five hours amid concerns over a possible military operation between the United States and Iran. This led international airlines to cancel and reroute flights to avoid risks of collateral damage.
According to a statement on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website, Iran had ordered a closure of its airspace, prohibiting any flights except specially authorized international ones, starting at 17:15 Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, 14 Jan 2024 GMT+7. Flightradar24 data showed the restriction was lifted around 22:00 GMT+7, with Iranian airlines such as Mahan Air and Yazd Airways among the first to resume flights over their own airspace.
The closure occurred as U.S. President Donald Trump was considering retaliatory measures regarding the situation in Iran, which is currently facing its largest anti-government protests in years. Concurrently, reports indicate the U.S. has begun withdrawing some personnel from Middle East bases following threats from senior Iranian officials to attack American bases if Washington initiates strikes first.
This uncertainty has had wide-ranging effects on the aviation industry. Indian major carriers IndiGo and Air India were directly impacted, having to alter flight routes, causing delays and cancellations.
German airline Lufthansa announced it would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice, adjusting flights to Israel’s Tel Aviv and Jordan’s Amman to daytime only to prevent crew overnight stays in risky areas. Russian carrier Aeroflot, en route to Tehran, decided to return immediately to Moscow upon learning of the airspace closure.
Aviation safety networks stated that sudden airspace closures like this signal increased military activity and raise the risk of missile strikes or air defense systems mistakenly identifying civilian aircraft.
These concerns stem from the 2020 tragedy when the Iranian military accidentally shot down a Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane, killing all 176 passengers and crew amid tensions with the U.S.
Currently, the United States maintains a strict ban on U.S. commercial flights over Iranian airspace, and there are no direct flights between the two countries at this time.