On August 8th, Cali News reported that people are increasingly worried about the possibility of a wider conflict in the Middle East after senior officials of Hamas and Hezbollah were assassinated. On Wednesday, the United Kingdom and Egypt demanded that their national airlines avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace.

On Wednesday, Egypt instructed all its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours early on Thursday. According to the 'air mission notice' Egypt gave to pilots, the order will take effect between 01:00 and 04:00 Greenwich Mean Time on Thursday (4:30 to 7:30 Tehran Time).

Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation later confirmed that it issued the above instruction due to a notice from Iranian authorities, aimed at reducing flight safety risks. The notice stated that military exercises would be conducted in Iranian airspace from 11:30 to 14:30 Tehran Time on August 7th and from 4:30 to 7:30 on August 8th.

According to media reports citing sources, Iranian authorities previously stated that they would avoid flying in their airspace due to 'military exercises'.

In 2020, the Iranian military mistakenly shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, killing all 176 people on board.

On Wednesday, the United Kingdom also advised its airlines to avoid Lebanese airspace. According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, there are currently no flights from the UK to Lebanon.

Airlines are avoiding the Middle East one after another.

Ten years ago, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in an area of conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Since then, flying over conflict zones has become a prominent safety issue in the aviation industry.

Recently, many airlines have been modifying their flight schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace, as well as cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon.

On July 31st, United Airlines announced that it will temporarily suspend all flights to Tel Aviv, Israel for 'safety reasons'. The airline said on Wednesday that the relevant flights will continue to be suspended.

'We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and when deciding when to resume service, our focus will be on the safety of our customers and crew,' United Airlines said.

Delta Air Lines has suspended flights between New York and Tel Aviv until August 31st.

Singapore Airlines began avoiding Iranian airspace last Friday and using alternative routes, citing safety as its top priority.