Key players: Airlines involved include Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, SWISS, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings), KLM, Air France, British Airways, Air Canada, United, IndiGo, flydubai, Turkish Airlines, Arkia, Israir, Blue Bird Airways, and El Al; governments and entities include US, Iran, Israel (with PM Netanyahu planning security talks), and EASA citing misidentification risks.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Context and timeline: Tensions escalated with a "weekend spike in sabre-rattling" between Washington and Tehran; Iran briefly closed airspace mid-January (e.g., five hours on Jan 14 without warning) and again around Jan 24, prompting initial halts; Lufthansa suspended Tehran flights since Jan (extending to Mar 29), night Tel Aviv ops to Feb 3; KLM paused then reversed Tel Aviv resumption; disruptions ongoing as of Jan 28-31, with some regional flights normal at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport per its CEO (denying cancellations).[1][2][3][4][5][6][8]
Newsworthy now: Disruptions persist into early February 2026 amid fears of military confrontation, Strait of Hormuz closure threats by Iran, and retaliatory warnings from Iranian officials, affecting global routes, passenger travel, and operations despite partial resumptions like KLM to Dubai/Riyadh.[1][3][4][5] Airlines offer flexible refunds/vouchers (e.g., El Al, Blue Bird) to ease impact.[3][7]