FRANKFURT: Top European airlines Lufthansa, KLM and Swiss on Tuesday announced that they were extending their suspension of flights to the Middle East, as tensions spiral throughout the region.
The moves come as Israel launched strikes on Beirut and a senior White House official warned that Iran was preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack “imminently” against Israel.
KLM has pushed out until the end of the year the suspension of its once-daily flight to Tel Aviv “given the situation in the region,” spokeswoman Elvira van der Vis told AFP.
The Dutch airline had already announced in August that it was suspending flights to Israel until October 26.
Also on Tuesday, German airline group Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to Beirut up to and including November 30.
Lufthansa group flights to Tel Aviv will be canceled until October 31 while trips to Tehran remain canceled until October 14.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers,” the group said.
Later on Tuesday the Lufthansa group said that it had also decided to “avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Jordanian airspace up to and including 2 October,” adding that “flights will continue to avoid Israeli airspace up to and including 31 October.”
The Lufthansa group — whose carriers also include Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines — has repeatedly modified its flight schedule in recent months due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, as have other airlines.
Following the example of its parent company, Swiss said the extension of its flight suspensions was “intended to provide more predictability for both our passengers and our crews.”
The Israeli army said it had launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes on Tuesday, further escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.
Meanwhile, a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the United States has indications that Iran was preparing to launch a missile attack against Israel “imminently.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said, warning that such an action would “carry severe consequences for Iran.”
European airlines extend suspension of Middle East flights
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European airlines extend suspension of Middle East flights
- The moves come as Israel launched strikes on Beirut and a senior White House official warned that Iran was preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack
- Also on Tuesday, German airline group Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to Beirut up to and including November 30
Syrian government, Kurds to extend truce: sources to AFP
- No official announcement has yet come from Damascus or SDF, but two sources said truce is to be extended by one month
DAMASCUS: The Syrian government and Kurdish forces have agreed to extend a ceasefire set to expire Saturday, as part of a broader deal on the future of Kurd-majority areas, several sources told AFP.
No official announcement has yet come from Damascus or the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but two sources said the truce is to be extended by one month.
On Tuesday, Damascus and the SDF agreed to a four-day ceasefire after Kurdish forces relinquished swathes of territory to government forces, which also sent reinforcements to a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast.
A diplomatic source in Damascus told AFP the ceasefire, due to expire on Saturday evening, will be extended “for a period of up to one month at most.”
A Kurdish source close to the negotiations confirmed “the ceasefire has been extended until a mutually acceptable political solution is reached.”
A Syrian official in Damascus said the “agreement is likely to be extended for one month,” adding that one reason is the need to complete the transfer of Daesh group militant detainees from Syria to Iraq.
All sources requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
After the SDF lost large areas to government forces, Washington said it would transfer 7,000 Daesh detainees to prisons in Iraq.
Europeans were among 150 senior IS detainees who were the first to be transferred on Wednesday, two Iraqi security officials told AFP.
The transfer is expected to last several days.
Daesh swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, but backed by a US-led coalition, the SDF ultimately defeated the group and went on to jail thousands of suspected militants and detain tens of thousands of their relatives.
The truce between Damascus and the Kurds is part of a new understanding over Kurdish-majority areas in Hasakah province, and of a broader deal to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration into the state.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s Islamist forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in 2024.
The new authorities are seeking to extend state control across Syria, resetting international ties including with the United States, now a key ally.
The Kurdish source said the SDF submitted a proposal to Damascus through US envoy Tom Barrack that would have the government managing border crossings — a key Damascus demand.
It also proposes that Damascus would “allocate part of the economic resources — particularly revenue from border crossings and oil — to the Kurdish-majority areas,” the source added.
Earlier this month, the Syrian army recaptured oil fields, including the country’s largest, while advancing against Kurdish forces.
