Airlines Cancel Flights after US, Israel Strikes on Iran

28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT

Airlines Cancel Flights after US, Israel Strikes on Iran

28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East on Saturday after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, plunging the region into a new conflict, Reuters reported.

Airspace over Iran and Iraq was empty on Saturday morning, maps by flight-tracking service Flightradar24 showed.

Below is the latest on flights listed by airline in alphabetical order:

AIR FRANCE KLM Air France cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon for Saturday. KLM brought forward the suspension of its Amsterdam–Tel Aviv service, cancelling the flight scheduled for Saturday.

The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM had announced on Wednesday that flights would be halted from Sunday, but has now advanced that date.

Only one flight to Tel Aviv had ⁠been scheduled for ⁠Saturday.

IBERIA EXPRESS The Spanish airline owned by Iberia Group cancelled a flight to Tel Aviv scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. local time.

INDIGO The airline said it was monitoring regional updates.

JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines cancelled a flight on Saturday from Tokyo Haneda to Doha as well as a return flight on March 1, Nikkei said.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES LOT Polish Airlines returned its flight LO121 from Warsaw to Dubai ⁠to Warsaw.

LUFTHANSA The German airline suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon, and Oman until March 7 and flights to and from Dubai on Saturday and Sunday. They also said they would not fly through Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi and Iranian airspace until March 7.

NORWEGIAN AIR The Nordic airline suspended all flights to and from Dubai on Saturday, a company spokesperson said. The carrier did not suspend flights to Tel Aviv in Israel or Beirut in Lebanon as these destinations are only active in summer, he added.

SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES The airline told Reuters it had suspended its flight to Tel Aviv from ⁠Copenhagen on Saturday. ⁠No decision had been made regarding flights on later dates.

TURKISH AIRLINES The airline cancelled flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman on Saturday and flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan until March 2.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC Virgin Atlantic said it will temporarily avoid Iraqi airspace, resulting in some pre-planned rerouting of its flights and cancelled its VS400 service from London Heathrow to Dubai on Saturday.

QATAR AIRWAYS The airline said it has temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha due to the closure of Qatari airspace.

WIZZ AIR The airline halted flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman with immediate effect until March 7.

It added that operational decisions would continue to be reviewed, and the flight schedule could be adjusted as the situation evolves.



Israel Says Haifa Residential Building Suffers Direct Hit in Iran Attack

 Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP)
TT

Israel Says Haifa Residential Building Suffers Direct Hit in Iran Attack

 Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP)

The Israeli military and medics said on Sunday that a missile fired from Iran hit a residential building in the northern city of Haifa, injuring four people.

The building was hit by a "direct impact of a missile", the military told AFP. When asked if it was a missile fired from Iran, it said: "Yes."

The strike occurred minutes after the military warned it had detected a new round of missiles fired from Iran.

In a separate statement, Israel's emergency service, Magen David Adom, said four people were wounded when a seven-storey building sustained a direct hit.

Images and footage published by MDA show smoke rising from the remains of a flattened building in a densely populated area, and stretchers laid on the road by rescuers for casualties.

The injured included an 82-year-old man, MDA said, adding that he was in a "serious condition".

He was "wounded by a heavy object and the blast", the MDA said, adding that the other three suffered shrapnel and blast injuries.

MDA paramedic Shevach Rothenshtrych quoted residents saying that there were casualties trapped under the rubble on the lower floors, and the 82-year-old was rescued after first responders "managed to move large pieces of concrete with our hands".

His colleague Tal Shustak said that when emergency calls were received, "we were dispatched in large forces to the scene and saw extensive destruction, including glass, smoke and concrete scattered across the ground".


China Ready to Cooperate With Russia to Ease Middle East Tension, Foreign Minister Says

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty following their meeting in Moscow, Russia April 3, 2026. (Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty following their meeting in Moscow, Russia April 3, 2026. (Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters)
TT

China Ready to Cooperate With Russia to Ease Middle East Tension, Foreign Minister Says

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty following their meeting in Moscow, Russia April 3, 2026. (Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty following their meeting in Moscow, Russia April 3, 2026. (Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters)

China is willing to continue to cooperate with Russia at the UN Security Council and make efforts to cool down the Middle East situation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a phone call on Sunday. 

Wang said the fundamental way to resolve navigation issues in the Strait of Hormuz is to achieve a ‌ceasefire as soon ‌as possible, adding that China has ‌always ⁠advocated political settlement of ⁠hotspot issues through dialogue and negotiation. 

The foreign ministers' call came ahead of a UN Security Council vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz. 

As permanent ⁠UNSC members, China and Russia ‌should "adopt an objective and balanced ‌approach and seek to win greater understanding and ‌support from the international community," Wang told Lavrov, ‌according to a statement from his ministry. 

A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said the ministers discussed ways to achieve a rapid ceasefire and "launch a political-diplomatic dialogue." 

"Satisfaction ‌was expressed at the coincidence in Russia's and China's approaches on most ⁠issues ⁠on the global agenda, including the situation around Iran, related to the unprovoked aggression of the US and Israel against that country," it said. 

China has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Gulf region and Middle East, urging an end to the fighting that has run for more than a month and largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping artery for oil and gas. 


Migrants Missing after Mediterranean Capsize: NGOs

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
TT

Migrants Missing after Mediterranean Capsize: NGOs

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS

Dozens of people are missing after a migrant boat capsized in the central Mediterranean, the NGOs Mediterranea Saving Humans and Sea-Watch said Sunday on social media.

Two people died and 32 were rescued from the boat, which had left Libya on Saturday afternoon with around 105 people on board, according to Mediterranea Saving Humans, AFP reported.

"Tragic Easter shipwreck. 32 survivors, two bodies recovered and more than 70 people missing," the NGO wrote on X, adding that the boat capsized in a search-and-rescue zone handled by Libyan authorities.

Sea-Watch said two commercial ships saved the survivors and took them to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

An aerial video it posted showed two men clinging to the hull of the capsized vessel, and the approach of one of the commercial ships.

Mediterranea Saving Humans said the accident was "the consequence of policies by European governments that refuse to open safe and legal pathways" for migrants.

Lampedusa is a key entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe.

Since the start of 2026, at least 683 migrants have lost their lives or gone missing on attempts to cross the sea, according to the UN's migration agency IOM.

According to the Italian government, 6,175 migrants arrived on Italian territory over the same period.