Several airlines are taking preventative measures in the face of Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iran.
Air France announced this Friday that it is “temporarily” suspending its flights to Dubai, due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, just as KLM also announced that it is suspending several connections to the region.
“Due to the current situation in the Middle East, the company has decided to temporarily suspend its flights to Dubai”, in the United Arab Emirates, explained Air France in a statement sent to the AFP agency.
The company stated that it “permanently monitors the evolution of the geopolitical situation in the territories served and flown over by its planes”.
The French air carrier canceled two Paris-Dubai flights on Friday, AF660 and AF658, and, as a consequence, two Dubai-Paris flights scheduled for Saturday on the two aircraft that were supposed to make the outbound flight were also cancelled.
The Dutch company KLM, in turn, suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai, as well as Daman and Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia.as reported, cited by the Dutch media outlet NOS.
KLM did not justify the decision, but stated that it was taken in agreement with the Dutch authorities.
German airline Lufthansa announced on Monday the suspension of flights “to and from Tehran until March 29 inclusive.”
The United States has maintained pressure on Iran in recent days, with President Donald Trump stating on Thursday that an American naval “armada” was on its way to the Gulf.
The US President has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran in response to the repression of the recent protest movement in the country, but appeared to back down on that threat last week, after ensuring that Tehran had suspended the planned executions of protesters.
The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, which was in the South China Sea, is currently on its way to the Gulf, according to the Pentagon.
