Flights across the Middle East were being cancelled on Saturday as several countries slammed their airspace shut after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies in the hours after smoke began rising over Tehran and Iran began retaliatory attacks in the region.
Iranian missiles hit capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region, killing at least one, as witnesses reported seeing warplanes and projectiles streaking through the skies.
Carriers including Air France, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian, Air Algérie and Lufthansa announced widespread cancellations.
“The airspace of the entire country is closed until further notice,” announced the spokesman of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.
Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, its transport minister, Miri Regev, announced, while Qatar’s civil aviation authority said it had temporarily closed the Gulf state’s airspace.
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