Evaluate flightpath risks, UAE tells airlines amid US-Iran tensions

Abu Dhabi - At least 500 commercial flights travel through Iranian and Iraqi airspace daily.

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has called on national air operators to evaluate flightpath risks that may affect aviation operations.

In a statement, the GCAA said that it continues to monitor and assess regional developments, and will take all necessary and appropriate measures promptly.

The aviation regulator's statement comes after several airlines cancelled Iran and Iraq flights and re-routed others away from both countries' airspace after Iranian forces fired missiles at military bases housing US troops in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for the US killing of an Iranian general, raising the stakes in its conflict with Washington amid concern of a wider war in the Middle East.

Dubai's Emirates and FlyDubai cancelled flights to Baghdad on Wednesday.

Changed flight plans were expected to inconvenience as many as 15,000 passengers per day, lengthen flight times by an average of 30 to 90 minutes and severely bruise the aviation industry's bottom line, analysts said.

At least 500 commercial flights travel through Iranian and Iraqi airspace daily, Dubai-based aviation consult Mark Martin said.

With inputs from AP