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Airline companies avoid some Mideast airspace, cancel Israel flights as tensions install

Airlines are avoiding Iranian and Lebanese airspace and cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as concerns grow over a possible dispute in the area after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah today.

Singapore Airlines on Friday appeared to no longer be utilizing Iranian airspace for any of its paths, according to flight tracker Flightradar24. The airline company did not react to a request for comment.

Taiwan's EVA Air and China Airlines also seemed avoiding Iran airspace for flights to Amsterdam on Friday which previously had flown over Iran, Flightradar24 data revealed.

The airline companies did not immediately react to a request for comment on the path changes.

In a publication, OPSGROUP, a membership-based organisation that shares flight threat details, encouraged traffic in between Asia and Europe to avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace, a day after sources told Reuters that top Iranian officials will meet the representatives of Iran's local allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to talk about possible retaliation versus Israel.

Lots of airline companies, consisting of U.S. and European airlines, already avoid flying over Iran, specifically since the mutual missile and drone attacks in April in between Iran and Israel.

Singapore Airlines' flight to London Heathrow early on Friday went north of Iran through Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, instead of crossing through Iran as it did the day previously, Flightradar24 showed.

Nevertheless, a substantial number of airline companies on Friday were still flying over Iran, including United Arab Emirates carriers Etihad, Emirates and FlyDubai, along with Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.

Over the past 2 days, Air India, Germany's. Lufthansa Group, U.S. providers United Airlines. and Delta Air, and Italy's ITA Airways said they had. suspended flights to Tel Aviv.

Airline companies this week have actually likewise been cancelling and delaying. flights to the Lebanese capital Beirut after a strike in the. Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. Israel has blamed. the attack on Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, which rejected. involvement.

Canada on Thursday released a notice to Canadian airplane to. avoid Lebanese airspace for one month due to the risk to. air travel from military activity.

Britain has for the past month encouraged pilots of potential. threat from anti-aircraft weaponry and military activity in. Lebanon's airspace.

Ought to an all-out war break out in the Middle East, OpsGroup. said civil air travel will likely deal with the threat of drones and. missiles crossing air passages, along with the increased risk of GPS. spoofing - a growing phenomena around Lebanon and Israel where. armed forces and other stars relay signals that fool a. plane's GPS system into thinking it is somewhere it is not.

(source: Reuters)