The Dutch flag carrier KLM has confirmed that it is canceling all flights to the Middle East until further notice due to security worries. The decision comes amidst the potential of a U.S. military strike on Iran that could ignite a major escalation in tensions throughout the region.
On Friday, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines canceled scheduled flights from its hub in Amsterdam to Dubai, Tel Aviv, Dammam, and Riyadh.
In a statement to state broadcaster NOS, the airline said it had made the decision due to the “geopolitical situation.” A spokesperson noted that KLM had made the decision of its own accord but is “in contact with the Dutch authorities.”
The spokesperson added: “We make these kinds of trade-offs every day; we don’t do that alone.”
KLM has pilots and flight attendants stranded in Dammam and Dubai, but arrangements are being made to repatriate them to the Netherlands on Saturday.
The airline is part of the Air France-KLM Group. On Friday, Air France also canceled two evening departures from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Dubai. Two other flights to Dubai earlier on Friday departed as scheduled.
Air France has yet to cancel any flights to Dubai on Saturday, although this could be subject to short-notice changes.
Last week, German airline Lufthansa announced that it was suspending all nighttime departures to Tel Aviv. The reason is that aircrew no longer have to ‘layover’ in Israel and can operate flights between Germany and Tel Aviv as day returns.
This means that if the security situation were to suddenly deteriorate, the airline would have to scramble to evacuate staffers out of the country.
The decision to pull flights from the Middle East could be linked to President Trump’s threats to carry out a military strike on Iran, linked to widespread protests that erupted across the country.
It’s still unclear why Trump didn’t follow through with his threat, although some reports suggest that any military strike was delayed at the request of Israel, which feared a retaliatory strike by Iran on its territory.
Trump has ordered the USS Lincoln carrier strike group to the region, although it is not yet in the Gulf of Oman.
European airlines have been avoiding flying over Iranian and Iraqi airspace for some time, although last week the European Aviation Agency (EASA) issued a so-called ‘conflict zone advisory’ for Iranian airspace.
The warning noted that Iranian air defence forces are on a heightened state of alert due to the threat of military strikes by the United States, and this could lead to a misidentification of a commercial passenger airliner.
Other airlines, including the likes of Emirates, Ethiad Airways, and Qatar Airways, continue to make extensive use of Iraqi and Iranian airspace.
Why on earth this Donny Boy Trumpet face the Epstien Files. He is desperate of power and trying to avoid this his mess. This is 2026 this is not 1400bc where colonisation is happening. The world has change and now everybody dotnt want war only the elites.