Air France and Austrian Airlines have joined German airline Lufthansa in canceling flights to Iran and are diverting flight paths around the Islamic Republic amid the heightened threat of military strikes.
Notably, Iran is vowing certain response to the Damascus, Syria, strikes that killed two Iranian military generals. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps drew international scorn for mistakenly downing the departing Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 headed for Kyiv in Jan. 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board.
The flight was hit by Iran's anti-aircraft missiles during heightened alert after former President Donald Trump took out the IRGC's Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani days before. The fatal mistake was internationally condemned as proof the Iranian regime – considered the world's largest state sponsor of terror – is not a responsible world actor.
Lufthansa and its subsidiary Austrian Airlines are the only two Western carriers flying into Tehran, according to Reuters, which is mostly served by Turkish and Middle Eastern airlines.
"Air France and Austria Airlines have both decided to follow the lead of Lufthansa in canceling all flight to and from the Iranian Capital of Tehran until further notice, due to possible conflict between Iran and Israel; the Airlines will also no longer utilize Iranian airspace for other flights around the world," the Open Source Intelligence Monitor posted on X early Saturday morning.
Countries including India, France, Poland, and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month. White House National security council spokesman John Kirby said the threat from Iran was real and viable.
Austrian Airlines, the last west European airline flying to Iran, said it was suspending all flights from Vienna to Tehran until April 18 in response to escalating tensions in the region.
Austria had continued flying for longer than its German parent Lufthansa since Vienna's closer proximity to Tehran meant it could more easily abort flights or be forced to leave staff in Tehran overnight.
Earlier on Friday, Austria's foreign ministry followed Germany in urging its citizens to leave Iran.
"Routes that pass through Iranian air space will also be modified," Austrian Airlines said in a statement. "The safety of our passengers and crews have highest priority."
German flagship airline Lufthansa had extended its suspension of flights to and from Tehran until April 18 and will not use Iranian airspace during that time, the company said Friday.
The carrier said the decision was taken after a "careful evaluation" using government security assessments and its own information.
Lufthansa first announced it had canceled a flight from Frankfurt to Tehran last weekend to avoid the crew having to disembark and spend the night.
Middle Eastern countries and the United States have been on alert for a retaliatory attack by Iran since April 1, when the Iranian embassy compound in Syria was bombed by suspected Israeli warplanes.
Information from Reuters was used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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