Commercial flights giving airspace above Iran & Israel a wide berth, SIA cancels 2 Dubai flights after US airstrikes on Iran

Airlines are continuing to avoid the skies over Iran as the United States joined Israel’s strikes on Iran on Jun. 21, 2025.

Wide berth

Ever since Israel’s attacks on Iranian targets began on Jun.13, followed by the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran, commercial aircrafts have been avoiding the airspace of both countries.

Reuters shared data collected by the flight tracking website Flightradar24, showing the position of commercial aircrafts in flight.

Following US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, commercial traffic in the region is operating as it has since new airspace restrictions were put into place last week.

Image from 01:45 UTC 22 June. pic.twitter.com/IeJBa9kvF4

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 22, 2025

The map of global flights showed a remarkably empty space above Iran and Israel but also above Syria and Iraq.

Before and after

In the early hours of Jun. 13, Israel began to hit targets in Iran using military aircraft, and Iran began to retaliate by firing missiles and suicide drones.

Flights between Europe and Asia, and by extension Australia, regularly fly over the Middle East, particularly over Iran and Iraq, as it presents the most direct route.

A tweet by Flightradar24 showed how the conflict impacted commercial air travel almost immediately.

02:30 UTC 13 June vs 6 June 2025. pic.twitter.com/s2Vm8ORBdg

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 13, 2025

Reuters reported that while commercial airlines have not received specific threats, there remain concerns about being caught up in the fighting.

Retaliation?

These concerns were only heightened on Jun. 21 (Jun. 22 Singapore time), when the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities in what U.S. President Donald Trump referred to as a “spectacular military success”.

But while the results of the attacks are not yet publicly known, Iran has condemned the attacks,

Calling the U.S. “war-mongering and lawless”.

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of #Iran concerning the #UnitedStates military aggression against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the… pic.twitter.com/GhSjSTtzx2

— Foreign Ministry, Islamic Republic of Iran 🇮🇷 (@IRIMFA_EN) June 22, 2025

Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has previously vowed that should the U.S. join Israel’s attack, it would suffer “irreparable damage” as a result.

The U.S. has several military bases in the region, including some in the Gulf States of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, leading to fears as to what potential retaliation might look like.

Cancelled flights due to security assessment

CNA reported that Singapore Airlines has cancelled two flights to Dubai in the UAE following a “security assessment” of the situation in the Middle East.

The cancellation affects a flight to Dubai from Singapore, SQ494, which was scheduled to depart at 3:10 pm, as well as one from Dubai to Singapore, SQ495, due to depart at 11:45 pm (Singapore time).

All SIA and Scoot flights have stopped flying over Iranian airspace and have used alternative flight paths since Aug. 2, 2024, the SIA group said last week. 

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Top image via Flightradar24/X