Airlines keep avoiding West Asian airspace after US strikes on Iran

Airlines continued to avoid large parts of the Middle East on Sunday after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, with traffic already skirting airspace in the region due to recent missile exchanges. 

"Following US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, commercial traffic in the region is operating as it has since new airspace restrictions were put into place last week," FlightRadar24 said on social media platform X. 

Its website showed airlines were not flying in the airspace over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. They have chosen other routings such as north via the Caspian Sea or south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, even if it results in higher fuel and crew costs and longer flight times. 

Missile and drone barrages in an expanding number of conflict zones globally represent a high risk to airline traffic. 

Since Israel launched strikes on Iran on June 13, carriers have suspended flights to destinations in the affected countries, though there have been some evacuation flights from neighbouring nations and some bringing stranded Israelis home. 

Israel's two largest carriers, El Al Israel Airlines and Arkia, said on Sunday they were suspending rescue flights that allowed people to return to Israel until further notice. El Al said it would also extend its cancellation of scheduled flights through June 27. 

Israel's airports authority said the country's airspace was closed for all flights, but land crossings with Egypt and Jordan remained open. 

Japan's foreign ministry said on Sunday it had evacuated 21 people, including 16 Japanese nationals, from Iran overland to Azerbaijan. It said it was the second such evacuation since Thursday and that it would conduct further evacuations if necessary. 

New Zealand's government said on Sunday it would send a Hercules military transport plane to the Middle East on standby to evacuate New Zealanders from the region. 

It said in a statement that government personnel and a C-130J Hercules aircraft would leave Auckland on Monday. The plane would take some days to reach the region, it said. 

The government was also in talks with commercial airlines to assess how they may be able to assist, it added. 

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Tim Kelly in Tokyo and Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul)