Iran-Israel conflict: Govt says monitoring situation, says airlines compelled to cancel or reroute flights

NEW DELHI: Indian carriers have been compelled to cancel or reroute several flights to ensure operational safety, Union minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Tuesday, in the wake of the Middle East crisis.

Naidu also said that the ministry of civil aviation is continuously monitoring the situation and coordinating with airlines to give the real time update. "Given recent geopolitical developments and the closure of airspace over countries, Indian carriers have been compelled to cancel or reroute several flights to ensure operational safety. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is continuously monitoring the situation and coordinating with airlines to provide real-time updates.

Passenger safety remains our top priority, and every effort is being made to minimize disruption and inconvenience," Naidu said in a post on X.

Amid the Middle East tension, several flights either cancelled or diverted. Indigo, recently, said that their flight operations to and from Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Dammam, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Madinah, Fujairah, Jeddah, Muscat, Sharjah, Riyadh, Ras AI-Khaimah and Tbilisi were suspended at least until 10 am today.

Air India also announced that they have ceased all operations to the region as well as to and from the East Coast of North America and Europe with immediate effect, until further notice.

The India-bound flights from North America are diverted back to their respective origins and others are being diverted back to India or re-routed away from the closed airspaces, Air India said. This came a day after Iran, in an retaliatory act, launched attacks on US base in Qatar after America joined Israel in war against Tehran and attacked its nuclear sites.In a statment, Iran's top security body said that it used the same number of bombs that the US had used in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to a report of Reuters, it also added that the US base was far from urban facilities and residential areas in Qatar. It also asserted that the action doesn't pose any threat to "our friendly and brotherly" neighbour Qatar.