Plane passengers heading east from Europe face a wall of war zones which could potentially leave flights stranded in an “immensely challenging” time for air travel.
Iran’s brazen missile attack in Israel this week, Houthi rockets shooting over the Red Sea and air space over Ukraine and Russia closed to Western airlines means almost half of the world is becoming harder to get to for UK travellers.
Flights to Dubai, India, Australia and Asia all usually take certain paths over the Middle East but now large areas of airspace are closed or becoming increasingly dangerous.
Footage taken on October 1 from a flight over Iran, when the Islamic Republic launched its missile attack, shows scores of deadly missiles shooting into the air when it was reported commercial aircraft were given no warning.
The flight, believed to have been either an Emirates plane which share routes, is not far from the terrifying missile launch clearly visible in the night sky.
Temporary airspace closures over Iraq, which lies geographically between Iran and Israel, mean flights are facing almost no way of traversing the whole region.
Maps from plane tracker site Flightradar24 show a British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Dubai which had to make an extraordinary diversion to Larnaca in Cyprus to refuel. Another Singapore to Heathrow flight had to divert to Dubai as its normal route was closed.
Writing in the Independent, travel expert Simon Calder said typically a flight from the UK to South Asia would route over Iraq or Iran to the Gulf.
He said: “The scale of the challenge is immense. For example, on Thursday morning none of the first 20 arrivals from Western Europe to Doha airport were on time, with some delays up to three hours.
“On a journey from the UK, the airline becomes legally liable for providing meals (and accommodation if necessary) until it gets you to your destination, and may also need to pay compensation if the hold-up is within its control.
“The current conflict counts as an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ and no compensation is payable.”
A spokesperson for Emirates told Express.co.uk on Tuesday: “Following tonight’s airspace closures, Emirates has cancelled some flights and diverted others.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and are making all efforts to ensure minimal disruption to customers while assisting those impacted.
“Emirates advises customers departing or arriving at Dubai International Airport to check their flight status on emirates.com for the latest information regarding their flights.”
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “Safety and security are always our highest priorities and we continuously assess and adjust our operations accordingly.”