Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa Group decided on Friday to “avoid Iranian airspace and thus temporarily suspend flight connections to Tehran,” the statement said. “Austrian Airlines is constantly monitoring and assessing the security situation in the Middle East and is in close contact with the authorities. The safety of passengers and crew is always top priority,” it added.
A flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv (OS 859) scheduled for the night of Saturday to Sunday was eventually canceled, leaving passengers on the return flight (Tel Aviv-Vienna, OS 860) stranded. Currently Israel.
An AUA long-haul jet from Bangkok to Vienna had to take a detour and therefore stopped in Athens to take on fuel. The Boeing flight took off from Bangkok just after midnight on flight OS 026 and was actually supposed to land in Vienna at 5:35am.
But with the airspace of Jordan, Iran, Iraq and Israel closed by Iran's nighttime airstrikes on Israel, a safe non-stop flight to Vienna is no longer possible due to increased fuel consumption. That is why the pilots decided to stop in Athens, according to the aviation magazine “Austrian Wings”.
There the engine received fresh fuel. “Papa Delta” finally reached Schwechat airport a few hours late in the early morning and touched down safely on runway 34 at around 9:19 am.
Airspace over Israel, Jordan and Iraq was reopened by their respective countries on Sunday, according to AUA spokesman Markowitz. “Accordingly, the Lufthansa Group is reusing these airspaces.” Flights already in the air last night were diverted to new routes.
