Breaking: Numerous Flights Canceled After Israel Shuts Down Airspace Due To Iranian Drone Strike

Summary Iran escalates conflict with Israel with drones, and missiles, causing airspace closures
Israeli airspace closed, airlines cancel flights divert due to an air defense emergency
Ongoing conflict includes past attacks by Iranian proxies and peace efforts ignored.
Iran has decided to escalate its conflict against Israel by launching as of 9:46 PM Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) three waves of drones and now ballistic missiles plus cruise missiles, forcing multiple nations in Israel, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria to close their airspace to civilian traffic. This way, air defenses have clear zones of fire to engage hostile targets and prevent creating another MH17 or PS752 tragedy.
Airspace closures have already begun.
According to the Associated Press and US’ ABC News, Israel has closed its airspace to all flights. The Jerusalem Post also reported that the Israeli flag carrier El Al has canceled flights between Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Dubai, and Moscow. Additionally, El Al issued a statement with a table of canceled flights below, noting that BKK is the IATA airport code for Suvarnabhumi Airport, the leading international airport serving Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
Table: El Al
Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa are also canceling flights. Other airlines are attempting to divert from the air defense emergency.
Related Austrian Airlines Suspends Flights & Others Avoid Iranian Airspace As Tensions Mount The airline had maintained its Iran schedule despite Lufthansa halting flights earlier this month.
Of course, front and center in the minds of airline schedulers right now is not just the MH17 tragedy but also Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in January 2020, where an Iranian air defense site, in a panic, lit up and shot down the flight. You can see below how airlines’ schedules are responding to protect civilian life:
According to US ABC News live reporting, the number of drones is at least over 100 drones, and the Israeli Air Force is shooting back. There is some concern other weapons will be launched at Israel.
Photo: David Vardi / Shutterstock
Earlier in the day, ABC News reported,
Israeli aviation authorities say they are closing the country’s airspace to all flights at 12:30 a.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. ET.
Part of an ongoing conflict
The current air attacks are part of a war Iran and proxies have waged against Jews and the Jewish state of Israel, starting with the October 7, 2023 massacre and hostage-taking by its Hamas proxy. Against many Israeli offers of a cease-fire and many peace activists working for a cease-fire worldwide, only one was accepted by Hamas between November 24, 2023, and November 30, 2023.
Iran’s Mission to the United Nations just issued this statement.
Iran is referring to a recent Israeli Air Force attack on April 1 of the Iranian consulate annex to their Damascus, Syria embassy. Two civilians sadly died, but the other fourteen were military targets in Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers using the facility to provide command and control to attacks on Israel.
Why close airspace and cancel flights?
Why close airspace and cancel civilian flights throughout the Middle East? The short reason is that air defense units have proven difficulties discriminating between civilian airliners and enemy aerial vehicles. When the skies are full of potential threats and surface-to-air missiles, the last thing you want is to be in weapons parameters for a surface-to-air missile site (SAM site).
Because even though you may be flown a thousand feet over the no-fly zone one side imposes, the other side does not care for such things and may fling an SA-11 Buk missile at your jetliner. Such is the case with the MH17 tragedy:
Then there is the time Iranian soldiers decided in all their wisdom to misperceive a Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 Boeing 737 as a US Navy P-8A Poseidon. The subsequent tragedy with all lives lost only adds to the understandable anxiety of airline flight schedulers, air traffic controllers, and aviation authorities.
This is a breaking news story—more updates to come.