Following a nearly five hour lockdown due to worries about potential military action between the United States and Iran, which caused airlines to cancel, reroute, or postpone certain flights, Iran restored its airspace.
According to a notice on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration website, Iran restricted its airspace on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. ET (2215 GMT) to all aircraft except international ones to and from Iran with official permission.
According to tracking firm Flightradar24, the notice was lifted just before 10 p.m. ET, or 0300 GMT, and five flights from Iranian carriers Mahan Air, Yazd Airways, and AVA Airlines were among the first to restart over the nation.
According to Flightradar24, dozens of aircraft were in the air over Iran at a period similar to the airspace shutdown last week.
President Donald Trump has been considering how to respond to the situation in Iran, which is witnessing its worst anti-government demonstrations in years, at the time of the temporary closure.
According to a U.S. official on Wednesday, the United States was removing some people from Middle Eastern facilities after a senior Iranian official claimed that Tehran had threatened to attack American outposts in the event of a strike by Washington.
In an increasing number of conflict zones, airplane travel is at great risk from missile and drone barrages. Iran's abrupt airspace restriction would affect some of its overseas flights, according to IndiGo, the biggest airline in India. According to Air India, its flights were using alternate routes, which can cause delays or cancellations.
According to Flightradar24 data, a Russian Aeroflot jet headed for Tehran returned to Moscow following the closure. Shortly after Lufthansa reorganized its flight operations around the Middle East due to rising tensions in the region, Germany issued a new directive earlier on Wednesday warning the nation's airlines not to enter Iranian airspace.
There are currently no direct flights between Iran and the United States, and all commercial flights from the United States are prohibited from flying over Iran. In the last week, several flights to Iran have been canceled by airlines like Turkish Airlines and Flydubai.
According to Safe Airspace, a website maintained by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that disseminates flight risk information, "most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace, and several airlines have already reduced or suspended services."
"The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defence, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic." In 2020, Iran's military shot down an Ukraine International Airlines aircraft, killing all 176 passengers and crew.
In order to avoid requiring crew to stay overnight, Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it will only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday through Monday of next week, avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice.
It noted in a statement that these efforts can possibly result in the cancellation of some flights. Lufthansa Group is now a significant shareholder in Italian airline ITA Airways, which said that it would likewise halt night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday of the following week.
