Air France and KLM announce pauses as Trump says ‘armada’ of US warships heading towards Middle East.
At least two European airlines have suspended flights to cities in the Middle East, with Air France saying it will temporarily stop service to Dubai as it continues to monitor the “geopolitical situation”.
Dutch airline KLM also halted flights until further notice to cities in Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and would not fly through the airspace of several countries in the region, including Iraq and Iran, according to the Netherlands’ state broadcaster NOS.
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France’s national carrier Air France told the AFP news agency in a statement on Friday that it was making the changes “due to the current situation in the Middle East”, adding that “the company has decided to temporarily suspend its service to Dubai”.
“Air France is monitoring the situation in real time and will provide further updates on its flight schedule,” the French airline said.
KLM told public broadcaster NOS on Friday that it had suspended flights until further notice to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh and would not fly through the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Israel and several countries in the Gulf.
The airline did not disclose the reason for the suspensions and said it was in touch with Dutch authorities, according to NOS.
The latest flight disruptions come as United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a “big force” of US warships he described as an “armada” was heading towards the Gulf region, days after appearing to back away from threats of military action against Iran over a recent crackdown on antigovernment protests.
“We’re watching Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“You know we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case … We have a big force going toward Iran,” he said.
