World leaders called for de-escalation amid Israel-Iran tensions. (Representational)
German airline group Lufthansa has suspended flights to Israel and Iraq until early Saturday after Israel reportedly carried out retaliatory strikes against arch-foe Iran.
Services by airlines of the group to Tel Aviv in Israel and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan were suspended until 0500 GMT due to the “current situation”, a spokesman told AFP.
Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines also decided as a “precautionary measure” to suspend flights to Jordan’s capital Amman, as well as Erbil and Tel Aviv on Friday “to comprehensively reassess the security situation”.
“Austrian Airlines continuously monitors and assesses the security situation in the Middle East and is in close contact with the authorities,” Austrian Airlines said in a statement sent to AFP.
World leaders called for de-escalation, after United States media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran, after the Islamic republic’s missile and drone attack against Israel.
Both Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines have already suspended their flights to and from Tehran up until the end of the month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Hindkesharistaff and is published from a syndicated feed.)