Airlines Squeeze Into Saudi Airspace as Mideast Conflict Flares

Airlines connecting Europe with the Middle East and South Asia are being forced to fly a more circuitous path using Egyptian and Saudi Arabian airspace as the escalating conflict in the Middle East blocks off routes over Iran and Iraq for many carriers.

British Airways, Emirates, Deutsche Lufthansa and other airlines began diverting services away from Iraqi airspace around 5:30 pm in the UK on Oct. 1, when Israel’s IDF said that rockets from Iran had been fired at the country. Many carriers shifted to flying across the breadth of Saudi Arabia and over the Sinai peninsula, based on a playback of flight paths on tracking website FlightRadar24.