UAE suspends Iranian airline flights as Iran closes airspace in response

The United Arab Emirates has suspended flights by Iranian airlines until further notice. Its civil aviation authority said the move follows new US sanctions on Iranian carriers, which also cover foreign airports and other parties that keep serving the affected airlines.

Iran responded in kind, closing its airspace to aircraft registered in the Emirates. That order covers Emirates, Etihad Airways and Flydubai.

For Emirates and Etihad the practical effect is limited: both had already been avoiding Iranian airspace on some routes since the end of February.

Flydubai is in a different position. It had recently gone back to using Iranian airspace for flights to Russia to shorten journey times, and now has to route those services around Iran again.