Flight paths squeezed as Iran conflict closes more airspace

"There was now a 'very tight range of options for airlines' trying to navigate the current situation."

— John Strickland , Academic

"The central corridor across Iran, Iraq and the Gulf is effectively closed, so most traffic is going either north via the Caucasus and Afghanistan, or south via Egypt/Saudi/Oman."

— David Mumford , Executive

"If the country were drawn into the conflict that could leave airlines facing 'a huge airspace equivalent of a brick wall from Saudi Arabia to northern Russia.'"

— David Kaminski , Executive

"We continue to monitor closely the overall risk and threat situation in the region and its impact on the safety of airspace, including this event."

— Helen Massy-Beresford , Other

"We are not military pilots. We are not trained to deal with these kinds of threats in the air."

— Tanja Harter , Executive

"Middle East pilots have always faced crises, so from the start we trained how to deal with contingencies, emergencies and everything else."

— Captain Mohammed Aziz , Executive

"Drones are not easily detected."

— Christian von d’Ahe , Executive