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Major airlines cancel flights to Dubai, Doha after US strikes on Iran

Major airlines cancel flights to Dubai, Doha after US strikes on Iran

British Airways and Singapore Airlines have cancelled flights to the Persian Gulf, increasing aviation disruptions in the region after the US struck three nuclear sites in Iran and Tehran vowed to retaliate.
London-based British Airways cancelled several flights to Dubai and diverted two planes bound for the emirate overnight, according to data from Flightradar24.
One flight took off from Heathrow Airport on Saturday night but was diverted to Zurich after it reached Saudi Arabia's airspace in the early hours of Sunday. Another Dubai-bound jet returned to Heathrow after going as far as Egypt.
The carrier also cancelled flights to Qatar's capital Doha on Sunday and halted routes to Bahrain through to the end of the month due to operational constraints and airspace restrictions. British Airways said it has adjusted its flight schedule as a result of recent events to ensure the safety of customers and crew.
Singapore Airlines said on Sunday it had cancelled two flights between Singapore and Dubai, warning in an advisory that other flights between the South-East Asian country and the emirates may be affected 'as the situation remains fluid.'
Several American and European airlines paused flights to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar last week after Israel started bombarding Iran.
The moves highlight growing worries in a part of the Middle East that is typically considered safe and sheltered from regional dislocations.
US President Donald Trump said American bombers struck Iran's three main nuclear sites on Sunday and he threatened further action, pulling the US directly into the country's conflict with Israel despite claiming he wanted to avoid new wars under his 'America First' agenda.
The state of play in the air
AEGEAN AIRLINES: Greece's Aegean Airlines cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including the early morning flight on July 12, as well as all flights to and from Beirut, Amman, and Erbil through the morning arrivals of June 28.
AIRBALTIC: Latvia's airBaltic has cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until September 30.
AEROFLOT: Russia's Aeroflot said that it had cancelled flights between Moscow and Tehran, and made changes to other routes in the Middle East after the first round of Israeli strikes on Iran.
AIR EUROPA: The Spanish airline has cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until July 31.
AIR FRANCE: Air France has suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
AMERICAN AIRLINES: All flights to Doha have been suspended.
ARKIA: The Israeli airline said that it was cancelling all its flights until June 21.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES: The Azeri airline has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until June 30.
BLUEBIRD AIRWAYS: The Greek airline has cancelled all flights to and from Israel until at least June 30.
BRITISH AIRWAYS: The UK flagship has cancelled all Tel Aviv flights until July 31 and all flights to Amman and Bahrain until the end of June. It has also paused flights to Doha and Dubai.
DELTA AIR LINES: The US carrier will not guarantee any travel to, from or through Tel Aviv until August 31.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES: All scheduled flights cancelled or closed to new bookings until at least July 15.
ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES: All flights suspended between Addis Ababa and Tel Aviv.
ETIHAD AIRWAYS: All flights cancelled between Abu Dhabi and Amman until June 20 and between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv until June 30.
EMIRATES: The UAE carrier has suspended flights to and from Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq until at least June 30.
FLYDUBAI: The airline has suspended flights to and from Iran, Iraq, Israel and Syria until June 30.
IBERIA EXPRESS: The airline has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until June 30.
ISRAIR: The Israeli airline has cancelled all flights from and to Israel until June 30.
ITA AIRWAYS: The Italian Airline has suspended Tel Aviv flights until August 1.
KLM: The Dutch carrier has cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until at least July 1. Some flights to, from or via Beirut until June 29 may be disrupted.
LUFTHANSA: The German carrier has suspended all flights to and from Beirut up to and including June 30, and to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and including July 31. Flights to and from Amman and Erbil are cancelled until July 11.
PEGASUS: The Turkish airline has cancelled flights to Iran until June 30 and flights to Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan until June 23.
QATAR AIRWAYS: The Doha-based airline has temporarily cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Iran and Syria.
RYANAIR: The European budget airline has cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until September 30.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES: All flights to the Persian Gulf may be affected.
TAROM: Romania's flag carrier has suspended all commercial flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman until at least June 24.
TRANSAVIA: KLM's budget airline has cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut until at least June.
TUS AIRWAYS: The Cypriot airline has cancelled all its flights to and from Israel scheduled until June 24 (inclusive). Flights scheduled for departure between June 25 and June 30 are closed for sale.
UNITED AIRLINES: The US carrier says all travel to Tel Aviv could be until at least August 1. Flights to Dubai have been suspended.

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US strikes on Iran: what we know
US strikes on Iran: what we know

News.com.au

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  • News.com.au

US strikes on Iran: what we know

The United States has carried out strikes that caused "extremely severe damage" to three of Iran's nuclear facilities, the top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said on Sunday. President Donald Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path to replace the nuclear deal with Tehran that he tore up during his first term in 2018. But he ultimately decided to take military action against Iran's nuclear program, which had already been bombarded in a more than week-long Israeli campaign that has also targeted Tehran's top military brass. Below, AFP examines what we know about the US strikes on Iran -- an operation dubbed "Midnight Hammer." - Major operation - Caine told journalists the strikes involved more than 125 US aircraft including B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, fighters, aerial refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. "This mission demonstrates the unmatched reach, coordination and capability of the United States military," the general said. "No other military in the world could have done this." Caine said it was "too early" to comment on what remains of Iran's nuclear program, but that "initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction." - B-2 bombers - The US employed seven B-2s in the strikes -- aircraft that can fly 6,000 nautical miles (9,600 kilometers) without refueling and which are designed to "penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets," according to the US military. "This was the largest B-2 operational strike in US history and the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown," according to Caine. Several B-2s proceeded west over the Pacific as a decoy while the bombers that would take part in the strikes headed east -- a "deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders," the general said. "Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us. Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise," Caine said. The United States used the B-2 in operations against Serbian forces in the 1990s, flying non-stop from Missouri to Kosovo and back, and the bombers were subsequently employed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the 2000s. - Massive Ordnance Penetrator - Caine said the B-2s dropped 14 bombs known as the GBU-57 or Massive Ordnance Penetrator -- a powerful 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bunker-busting weapon that made its combat debut in the Iran operation. The bombs -- which are designed to penetrate up to 200 feet (60 meters) underground before exploding -- were needed to hit deeply buried Iranian nuclear facilities. Testing of the weapons began in 2004 and Boeing was in 2009 awarded a contract to complete the integration of GBU-57 with aircraft. - Tomahawk cruise missiles - In addition to the bombers, a US guided missile submarine in the Middle East launched more than two dozen missiles at unspecified "surface infrastructure targets" at Isfahan, one of three nuclear sites struck in the operation, Caine said. The missiles are "designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds, and are piloted over an evasive route by several mission tailored guidance systems" and were first used in 1991 against Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm, according to the US military. - Aim of the strikes - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told journalists the strikes were launched to "neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defense of our troops and our allies." "This mission was not, has not been, about regime change," Hegseth told journalists. A number of key figures in Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement have vocally opposed US strikes on Iran, and his promise to extract the United States from its "forever wars" in the Middle East played a role in his 2016 and 2024 election wins. - What comes next? - Trump has called on Iran to "agree to end this war," saying that "now is the time for peace." But it remains to be seen whether the strikes will push Tehran to deescalate the conflict, or to widen it further. If Iran chooses the latter option, it could do so by targeting American military personnel who are stationed around the Middle East, or seek to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which carries one-fifth of global oil output.

Decoys, bunker-busters and stealth bombers: How America attacked Iran
Decoys, bunker-busters and stealth bombers: How America attacked Iran

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time11 minutes ago

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Decoys, bunker-busters and stealth bombers: How America attacked Iran

The US strikes that targeted Iran's nuclear sites involved a decoy mission aimed at drawing attention from flight trackers as the largest-ever deployment of B-2 stealth bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs for the first time in combat. The operation – dubbed 'Midnight Hammer' – was detailed by top Pentagon officials on Sunday night (AEST). They described an extensive operation that included 125 aircraft overall, strikes by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine and the use of 14 massive ordnance penetrator – or bunker-buster – bombs. The heart of the 37-hour operation was a feint in which a group of B-2 bombers flew west across the Pacific Ocean as decoys to maintain tactical surprise, according to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. News reports on Saturday morning that picked up on flight-tracker data suggested those planes were being deployed as a way to strong-arm Iran into fresh talks on its nuclear program. While those planes got all the attention, another group of B-2s flew east carrying the bunker-busters. The officials said dozens of air-refuelling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and fourth- and fifth-generation fighters were involved in the attack, which struck nuclear Iran's facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. The briefing helped explain other data points that emerged in recent days, including a massive move by midair refuelling tankers last week that was widely reported at the time. The White House had promised on Thursday that President Donald Trump would make a decision on a strike 'within two weeks,' suggesting there might be more time. In the end, the operation on Sunday (AEST) was deemed a success by the Pentagon. No Americans were lost and Iran didn't fire at any of the US military assets, according to the officials.

Decoys, bunker-busters and stealth bombers: How America attacked Iran
Decoys, bunker-busters and stealth bombers: How America attacked Iran

Sydney Morning Herald

time12 minutes ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

Decoys, bunker-busters and stealth bombers: How America attacked Iran

The US strikes that targeted Iran's nuclear sites involved a decoy mission aimed at drawing attention from flight trackers as the largest-ever deployment of B-2 stealth bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs for the first time in combat. The operation – dubbed 'Midnight Hammer' – was detailed by top Pentagon officials on Sunday night (AEST). They described an extensive operation that included 125 aircraft overall, strikes by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine and the use of 14 massive ordnance penetrator – or bunker-buster – bombs. The heart of the 37-hour operation was a feint in which a group of B-2 bombers flew west across the Pacific Ocean as decoys to maintain tactical surprise, according to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. News reports on Saturday morning that picked up on flight-tracker data suggested those planes were being deployed as a way to strong-arm Iran into fresh talks on its nuclear program. While those planes got all the attention, another group of B-2s flew east carrying the bunker-busters. The officials said dozens of air-refuelling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and fourth- and fifth-generation fighters were involved in the attack, which struck nuclear Iran's facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. The briefing helped explain other data points that emerged in recent days, including a massive move by midair refuelling tankers last week that was widely reported at the time. The White House had promised on Thursday that President Donald Trump would make a decision on a strike 'within two weeks,' suggesting there might be more time. In the end, the operation on Sunday (AEST) was deemed a success by the Pentagon. No Americans were lost and Iran didn't fire at any of the US military assets, according to the officials.

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