AIRLINE pilots are facing growing risks in the skies as armed conflicts and the spread of drones increasingly intersect with civilian air routes, industry officials and pilots say.
The escalation of war in the Middle East, including recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory missile attacks, has pushed ballistic missiles and attack drones into airspace surrounding some of the world’s busiest airports. The conflict has disrupted flights across the region, with airports from Dubai to Abu Dhabi forced to ground numerous services while rescue flights attempted to evacuate stranded travellers.
Aviation experts say that the situation highlights a broader trend in which modern conflicts are compressing civilian air corridors and exposing commercial aircraft to threats once largely confined to war zones.
Reuters spoke with eight pilots and several aviation and security insiders who said the accumulation of global conflicts — including those involving Ukraine, Afghanistan and Israel — has forced airlines to navigate increasingly restricted and unpredictable airspace.
The result has placed additional pressure on flight crews responsible for maintaining passenger safety while operating in environments shaped by military activity.
“We are not military pilots. We are not trained to deal with these kinds of threats in the air,” Tanja Harter, a pilot with Middle East experience and president of the European Cockpit Association, told Reuters.
The latest crisis adds to a series of security challenges confronting the aviation sector, she said, noting that repeated incidents have created growing “fear and anxiety” among pilots. Airlines have responded by introducing peer support programmes aimed at helping crews manage stress.
“As a pilot I would not want to share airspace with missiles,” she added.
Industry specialists say airspace safety has deteriorated during the past two and a half years as conflicts have expanded.
They cite the rise of GPS spoofing — in which signals are manipulated to mislead aircraft about their position — as well as the growing use of drones and missiles far beyond traditional battlefields.
Operational disruptions have already occurred. An Air France flight dispatched to evacuate French nationals from the United Arab Emirates was forced to turn back on Thursday after missile fire was reported nearby.
A Lufthansa pilot diverted a flight from Riyadh to Cairo the following day amid security concerns in the region.
In the Middle East, aviation authorities say pilots have long been accustomed to operating under crisis conditions. Lebanon’s civil aviation chief said such training has become increasingly essential as tensions rise.
“Middle East pilots have always faced crises, so from the start we trained how to deal with contingencies, emergencies and everything else,” said Captain Mohammed Aziz, director general of Lebanon’s civil aviation authority.
“No one can give you a guarantee that they won't bomb the airport or will bomb the airport.”
A pilot with Middle East Airlines who has flown for more than a decade said routes into Beirut have become progressively more complicated as threats evolve. In earlier years, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles in Lebanon were believed to reach roughly 15,000 feet, prompting pilots to climb higher to remain outside their range.
Aircraft frequently carried extra fuel to allow diversions if necessary.
Despite the proximity of missile strikes in the region, pilots often remain focused on operational tasks rather than the wider conflict unfolding around them.
“You're actually busy enough on the plane trying to make sure you have clearance to land, that everything is in order, so you don't have time to process your emotions over what's happening outside the plane,” he said.
The risks facing aviation are not limited to the Middle East. Across Europe, the proliferation of drones has emerged as a growing hazard to aircraft operations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Airports in cities including Stockholm and Munich have experienced disruptions caused by unidentified drones, incidents that authorities suspect — though have not confirmed — could be linked to the broader conflict.
Airline Captain Christian von D’Ahe, a commercial pilot of 15 years and head of the Danish Air Line Pilots Association, warned that the threat from drones is becoming increasingly serious.
“Drones are not easily detected,” von D’Ahe said. “We can see them in the air, and they're very small. So sooner or later, something will happen.”
A collision between a drone and a commercial aircraft could have severe consequences. A strike on an engine could cause total power loss, while damage to wings could compromise a jet’s ability to manoeuvre.
Unlike most registered aircraft, which transmit identification signals through onboard transponders that allow radar tracking, many drones emit no such signal.
Conventional airport radar systems therefore struggle to detect them, leaving pilots and air traffic controllers with limited warning.
Although specialised anti-drone radar systems exist, they are typically operated by law enforcement agencies or the military rather than civilian aviation authorities.
Dedrone, a company specialising in counter-drone technology, reported more than 1.2 million drone violations in the United States in 2025 alone, with numbers expected to continue rising.
Airports can deploy radar, frequency sensors and jamming tools to disrupt drones, while some systems can attempt to redirect them by spoofing their navigation signals. However, safety concerns mean airports generally cannot shoot drones down.
Tim Friebe, an air traffic controller in Germany and vice president of the Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination, said aviation authorities currently have few immediate options when drones appear near runways.
“For now we have reports, pilot reports, or sometimes controllers spot drones. The problem is there's not much you can do except shutting down the airport,” he said.
Drone sightings have already forced temporary closures at major airports including Munich and London’s Gatwick in recent years, prompting operators to expand their foreign object detection and drone monitoring systems.
Commercial pilot Moritz Burger recalled one such incident while preparing to land at a European airport, when he noticed an unfamiliar object passing just below the aircraft.
“I was looking out of the window and suddenly there appeared an object that passed by just below our aircraft. We could see it for maybe one, maximum two seconds,” he said.
The encounter left him little opportunity to respond.
“When you encounter such a near-miss or some passing object, there is not enough time to react. So it is unrealistic to expect that pilots could fly around such an object. There's pretty much nothing we can do.” - March 7, 2026
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