Airlines in the Middle East are forced to take the long way

IN CALMER times the flight from Dubai to Beirut ends with stunning vistas of the hills of Damascus and the mountains of Lebanon. But for years the airspace over Syria has been crowded with warplanes. The Gulf airlines no longer use it. Instead Emirates, the flag carrier of Dubai, detours across Saudi Arabia and Egypt, adding 700km to the trip. The journey takes even longer on Qatar Airways, which was barred from Saudi airspace after a dispute between the Gulf countries erupted last year. Its route from Doha to Beirut resembles a crook: north over Iran, west across Turkey and south down the coast. What should be a 1,825km flight drags on for 2,865km.

The best way to visualise the Middle East’s many conflicts is, literally, from 30,000 feet. Because of wars and political disputes, large bits of the region are off-limits to passenger jets. A straight line between Cairo and Amman is about 500km. That line crosses north Sinai, though, where Egypt is fighting an Islamist insurgency. Pilots fly south to avoid it, adding an extra 190km to their trips. Libya and Yemen are beset by civil wars, complicating routes to Africa.