German airline Lufthansa decided to prolong the suspension of flights to Tehran on Thursday due to security concerns in the Middle East, where Iran is on high alert for possible retaliation for a suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran‘s embassy in Syria, according to Reuters.
The majority of flights into Tehran are operated by Turkish and Middle Eastern airlines, with the exception of Lufthansa and its subsidiary Austrian Airlines.
The region and the United States have been on high alert for an Iranian attack since April 1, when Israeli aircrafts were suspected of striking the Iranian embassy compound in Syria.
Lufthansa said on Thursday that it had stopped flights to and from Tehran until possibly April 13, extending the suspension by two days to avoid forcing its personnel to disembark and spend the night in the Iranian capital.
“Last weekend, it was decided not to operate a flight to Tehran with a layover for the crew due to the security situation,” a representative for the airline stated. „On the way, the crew has to spend the night in Tehran before returning to Frankfurt. We want to avoid disembarking for safety concerns.”
Austrian Airlines, which is owned by Lufthansa and travels six times a week from Vienna to Tehran, said it would continue to fly on Thursday but would change its schedule to avoid an overnight stopover.
“The Austrian Airlines flight to Tehran scheduled for today will take place, but will depart from Vienna several hours late in order to minimize the time between landing and departure in Tehran,” a spokeswoman for the airline stated.
There was no immediate word from other international airlines that travel to Tehran. Iranian airspace is also a major overflight route for Emirates and Qatar Airways flights to North America.