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European airlines add flights to Asia amid high demand, cancellations by Gulf carriers
The war in Iran is providing European airlines a rare chance to claw back some business lost to the likes of Emirates or Qatar Airways
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British Airways and Deutsche Lufthansa are adding flights to Asia amid increased long-haul demand as customers seek alternatives to Middle East carriers hamstrung by airspace closures at home.
BA will operate more flights from London to Singapore and Bangkok this week, using aircraft that currently are not needed in the Gulf region.
The airline has temporarily cut back its Middle East schedule, cancelling all Abu Dhabi flights until at least October and stopping flights to cities including Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv until later this month, according to a statement on Tuesday.
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Lufthansa would add flights at short notice from Germany to Singapore, it said earlier. Its Austrian Airlines subsidiary has already arranged 10 special return flights from Vienna to Bangkok.
Air France-KLM has deployed bigger jets on flights from a number of cities in Asia – including Tokyo, Shanghai and Mumbai – in response to increased demand and flight cancellations by Gulf-based airlines.
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More than 43,000 flights scheduled in and out of the Middle East were cancelled between February 28 and Tuesday, according to data from analytics firm Cirium.
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