Air France has resumed its Dubai service after temporarily suspending it due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the airline said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes on Iran over the crackdown on the protest movement that recently erupted across the Islamic republic.
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The French airline on Friday said it was freezing its flights to certain destinations and “monitoring developments” in the region “to ensure the highest level of flight safety and security”.
Dutch airline KLM, which belongs to the same group as Air France, also halted flights until further notice to cities in the Middle East.
KLM told public broadcaster NOS on Friday that it had suspended flights until further notice to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh and would not fly through the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Israel and several countries in the Gulf.
The airline did not disclose the reason for the suspensions and said it was in touch with Dutch authorities, according to NOS.
The latest flight disruptions came after Trump on Thursday said a “big force” of US warships he described as an “armada” was heading towards the Gulf region, days after appearing to back away from threats of military action against Iran over a recent crackdown on antigovernment protests.
“We’re watching Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“You know we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case … We have a big force going toward Iran,” he said.