Global airlines divert, cancel flights as they grapple with escalating Middle East tensions [Video]

Rising tensions in the Middle East have created air travel chaos, with global airlines diverting or cancelling flights on Wednesday and regional airports, including Lebanon, Israel and Kuwait, showing long delays, according to FlightRadar24 data.

Concern over travel disruption as the conflict intensifies also knocked shares in the travel and airline sectors, with shares in Europe’s largest travel operator TUI falling nearly 5 per cent on the day and Lufthansa down 4.4 per cent.

“At the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Gaza conflict last year there was a weakening of demand for travel across the board in Europe, which eased after a couple of weeks,” said Andrew Lobbenberg, an analyst at Barclays.

Iran launched its largest missile attack against Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, prompting a threat from Israel of a “painful response.”

On Wednesday afternoon, flights were seen over Iranian airspace, according to a FlightRadar24 map, including …