Are Iran's proxies trying to isolate Israel with airline withdrawals? - analysis

A new report at pro-Iranian, pro-Hezbollah al-Mayadeen media says that commercial airlines are canceling flights to Israel due to the Iranian threats to Israel. This is well known, but Al-Mayadeen’s focus on this issue shows that these cancellations may be a new war aim of Iran and its proxies.

Flights were canceled to Israel after the Hamas assault on October 7. When Iran threatened Israel this past July, airlines canceled flights in August. The Al-Mayadeen report says that some airlines may continue cancellations through next March.

This suggests that pro-Iranian media is communicating this as a war aim to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies. Iran attacked Israel with ballistic missiles in April. It’s not clear why the latest threats to Israel have caused long-term airline cancellations. Israel’s skies are safe and Israel has among the most advanced air defense systems in the world.

So where are the flights?

The arbitrary cancellations have received more attention in western media and even among US politicians.

Al-Mayadeen says that one airline’s “travelers began receiving notices of flight cancellations to more than 15 destinations in Europe until further notice, in the hours following this announcement.” It based this on a report in Israeli media. “Other airlines, such as EasyJet, one of the world’s largest low-cost airlines, and China’s Cathay Pacific, one of the world’s largest, have joined the move, announcing that they will ‘completely cancel their flights until March 2025.’”

The report goes on to note that “other companies have also announced the cancellation of all flights to and from Israel until the end of October, including Air India, the only foreign carrier operating flights to the East, Air Canada, American Airlines, Spanish Airlines, Finnair, KLM, and Korean Air. Last month, the American airline company, Delta, announced it was ‘extending the cancellation of its flights to Israel from September 1 to 30.’”

It is clear that Iran’s proxies are now focused on this development and see it as a possible victory in the conflict over the last 11 months.