Airlines Are Using This Sliver of Sky to Skirt Closed Airspace

As much of the Middle East remains closed amid missile barrages, international airlines are being squeezed into a shrinking set of flight paths.

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates remained closed or partially closed as of Monday, and the nearby Russian skies have been off limits to Western airlines since the Ukraine war broke out in 2022.

For most carriers, this extremely limits their options.

Flightradar24 shows flights are being funneled into narrow corridors around the Middle East, or forced into longer detours over Saudi Arabia and other regions — adding hours of flight time, higher fuel and labor costs, and operational complexity.

Among the most critical options is the Caucasus corridor north of Iran — including Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan — which links Europe and Asia and has been absorbing detoured traffic as carriers seek alternatives to disrupted Middle East routes.

The Caucasus region offers not only the most efficient routing around now-closed airspace — it’s also the only option for many global carriers. To the north is Russia, which remains blocked to most Western airlines amid ongoing sanctions and reciprocal airspace restrictions.

Restrictions on Russian airspace have forced carriers like Finnair to add up to four extra hours between Helsinki and Tokyo, while British Airways has similarly extended flight times on routes to Asia.

The narrow corridor can be like threading a needle, spanning just 100 miles between Russia and Iran at its narrowest point, according to Google Maps. Without it, airlines unfriendly with Russia would be forced to take significantly longer, more costly detours via Saudi Arabia.

Iranian airspace closures have sent traffic north before

Although it is a narrow route, the Caucasus corridor has successfully accommodated increased traffic when carriers have relied on it during past conflict-driven airspace closures. This route also overflies Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to the Civil Aviation Air Navigation Service Organization (CANSO), the global association of air traffic providers based in the Netherlands, Azerbaijan airspace handled 110 additional flights per day when Iran temporarily closed its airspace in June 2025.

The agency added that the region has seen an overall year-over-year increase in traffic as airspace around it flips on and off.

“Since 2022, Azerbaijan’s airspace has played a vital role in providing alternative and efficient air routes in response to regional geopolitical crises,” CANSO said, noting the country’s investments in advanced air traffic technologies.

Still, the influx of congestion over the Caucasus region could limit flexibility if weather restrictions arise. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the conflict could last “four to five weeks.”

If the conflict were to spread to the central Asian states that neighbor Iran to the north — which is very unlikely given the lack of US bases in Central Asia— it would effectively create a wall of unusable airspace.

Aviation leaders are emphasizing safety over these sensitive regions, especially after airports in Kuwait and the UAE were damaged during missile fire. On Monday, the director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Willie Walsh, called for airlines to refrain from targeting civilian airspace.

“We all hope for an early peaceful resolution to the current hostilities,” he said. “In the meantime, it is critical that states respect their obligation to keep civilians, and civil aviation free from harm.”

The comment comes after previous inadvertent attacks on civilian airliners: a Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down by Russia over eastern Ukraine in 2014, and a Ukraine International Airlines aircraft was shot down by Iran near Tehran in 2020.

Both were a result of heightened military alert and fear during tense conflicts.

Some bottlenecks extend beyond the Caucasus

Countries including Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Oman saw dozens of additional aircraft rerouted through their airspace shortly after the conflict began on Saturday, and they remain among the few regions still handling flights. Etihad Airways and Emirates operated a limited number of flights from the UAE on Monday.

Westbound flights are largely using a single corridor across western Saudi Arabia and then heading up toward Europe, likely because it’s farther from conflict zones.

Flightradar24 data from before the Saturday attacks shows more direct flight paths across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the UAE, though some flights on Monday were again using UAE airspace.

One airline in particular faces a uniquely tricky routing challenge due to the Middle East’s abruptly shuttered airspace: Air India.

The airline hasn’t flown over Pakistan in nearly a year due to rising tensions, forcing it to detour across the UAE to reach Europe and North America.

But, with most Gulf nations now closed, Flightradar24 shows it flying even further west across Oman and Saudi Arabia on these routes, often stopping in cities like Rome and Vienna along the way.

These are likely fuel stops, considering the now-longer flight paths. Air India made similar pit stops in April 2025 when tensions with Pakistan had previously arisen.

Flights are resuming on Monday

Eddy Pieniazek, head of Ishka Advisory, said in a Monday note that the mass disruptions across the Middle East are likely to be “short-lived” with a “gradual return of operations.”

He added how vital the Gulf region is, “particularly while Russian airspace remains restricted” and “while Africa currently lacks a comparable hub infrastructure.”

UAE airspace began partially opening up on Monday, with several Emirates and Etihad Airways flights departing from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to destinations in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Both Emirates and Etihad Airways’ website still say all flights to and from their megahubs are suspended, but earlier Monday said a limited number will fly. These will get people home, transport cargo, and reposition aircraft.

To ease crowds, they asked passengers not to go to the airport unless they had been specifically notified.