Dozens of flights to and from Iran have been canceled as protests against the country’s government escalated.
46 flights in and out of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport were canceled between last Friday and Sunday, according to data from FlightAware. A number of flights in and out of Mashhad Shahid Hasheminejad Airport in Iran’s second city, Mashhad, were also canceled.
Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, FlyDubai, and Pegasus Airlines are among those that have canceled flights to Iran this weekend. Most of those were going to or arriving from Dubai and Istanbul.
Apart from Turkish carriers, Austrian Airlines is the only European airline that continues to serve Iran. It also canceled its services from Vienna last weekend.
An airline spokesperson said it suspended flights out of precaution following “a review of the current security situation.”
“Developments across the entire region are being continuously and closely monitored,” they added.
Anti-government demonstrations began in Iran in late December amid a sharp drop in the value of its currency, the rial, and rising inflation.
Shopkeepers in Tehran went on strike, and protests soon spread throughout the country and turned violent. Many protestors have called for the end of nearly 50 years of clerical rule.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has verified over 500 deaths and 10,000 arrests.
This isn’t the first time recently that airlines have stopped flights to Iran.
Iranian airspace was temporarily closed last June after the country was bombed by Israel. Iran responded by sending missiles and drones to Israel, before the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. A ceasefire was agreed after Iran launched missiles at a US air base in Qatar.
The last incident caused over 160 flights to divert, Business Insider previously reported.
The German airline Lufthansa, the parent of Austrian Airlines, suspended its flights to Iran as a result of that conflict, but planned to restart them this Friday.
A spokesperson told Business Insider, “Lufthansa continues to suspend flights to Tehran and plans to resume services on 16 January, as previously communicated, while closely monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis.”
The Federal Aviation Administration banned US airlines from flying over Iran in early 2020, following Iranian rocket strikes on US military bases in Iraq.
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