The Middle East has long been a global crossroads for air travel, with hundreds of aircraft bisecting the region every day on long-distance journeys connecting the U.S., Europe and Asia. <\/p>\n
Plying those routes has become\u00a0more challenging, with rising\u00a0tensions forcing airlines to curtail services as a safety precaution. The war between Israel and Hamas,\u00a0in a region already studded with hot zones, has added\u00a0to the complications of\u00a0flying between east and west.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine already added hours to many journeys by shutting down vast airspace to many transnational operators \u2013 including the Great Circle routes through Siberia, a popular gateway between the continents.<\/p>\n
Each extra hour of flight added $7,227 to the variable cost of a typical widebody journey in 2021, based on Federal Aviation Administration estimates. Expenses such as fuel and labour have only increased since then, said John Gradek, an expert on aviation operations and lecturer at McGill University in Montreal.<\/p>\n