Air France KLM adds flights to North Africa amid Middle East conflict

Air France KLM said on Tuesday that weak demand for leisure travel to Egypt and Jordan since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel had forced the group to redeploy a big portion of that capacity to North Africa. CEO Ben Smith said during a call with analysts that the airline was "cautiously optimistic" that demand for Tel Aviv and Beirut flights will recover, but those in southern Egypt and Jordan are still not close to pre-October levels. Global travel demand has weakened since the conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas in October. Airlines have suspended hundreds of flights to and from Tel Aviv, as well as some to Lebanon and Jordan since the outset of the war and the conflict has also hurt bookings in the region. Earlier this month, global airlines were also forced to change flight routes over Iran, cancel some flights, divert others to alternate airports or return planes to the points of departure, as Israel's reported attack on Iran led to airspace and airport closures and security concerns.<br/>