* Middle East conflicts increase risks for pilots and

airports

* Drones disrupt European airports, posing risks to

aircraft

* Airspace safety worsens with increased drones and

missile threats

By Joanna Plucinska, Soren Jeppesen, Maya Gebeily and

Alessandro Parodi

LONDON/COPENHAGEN/BEIRUT, March 7 (Reuters) - Airline

pilots have faced escalating risks in recent years, from drone

incursions to flight paths squeezed by conflict. Now

U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are making the skies even more

perilous and ratcheting up the pressure on those flying through

them.

The outbreak of war in the Middle East has put hundreds of

ballistic missiles and attack drones into the skies above some

of the world's busiest airports. Tehran's retaliation against

the U.S. and its allies has included hitting airports,grounding

scores of flights from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. A trickle of rescue

flights has made it through for thousands of stranded

passengers.

Reuters spoke to eight pilots and more than a half-dozen

aviation and security insiders who said the accumulation of

conflicts - from Ukraine to Afghanistan and Israel - has

increased the burden on pilots, forcing them to manage shrinking

airspace and the wider use of military drones far from active

war zones. That's increased the strain on the mental health of

pilots desperate to keep themselves and their passengers safe.

"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 current crisis is the latest in a string of security

threats the sector has faced over the years, she said, which

could cause "fear and anxiety" for pilots. Airlines now often

have peer programs to help, she said, adding as a pilot she

would not want to "share airspace with missiles."

Airspace safety has worsened in the last two-and-a-half

years as conflicts have grown, industry experts said, through a

combination of GPS spoofing - maliciously tricking planes about

their position - and increased numbers of missiles and drones.

An Air France flight to bring stranded French

nationals home from the United Arab Emirates turned back due to

missile fire on Thursday. A Lufthansa pilot on Friday

diverted from Riyadh to Cairo over regional security fears.

FLYING HIGHER TO AVOID MISSILES

Middle East-trained pilots have become wearily used to

emergencies, the head of Lebanon's civil aviation body said. The

escalating conflict put those skills to the test quickly. Video

footage on March 5 showed planes taking off from Beirut airport

as smoke billowed over buildings in the Lebanese capital.

"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."

One Middle East Airlines' pilot with a decade of experience

said routes to Beirut have become more complex. In the past,

shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles in Lebanon usually had a

range of 15,000 feet, so pilots would increase altitude to stay

out of range, he said, while planes often carried extra fuel in

case they were forced to divert.

Still, most missile strikes are far enough away not to be a

risk and pilots are often too busy to worry about 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.

DRONES DISRUPT EUROPEAN AIRPORTS

The risks are not confined to the Middle East. Since

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, drones have become a key

weapon on both sides. Airports in European cities from Stockholm

to Munich have faced drone disruptions - suspected though not

confirmed to be linked to the conflict.

Airline Captain Christian von D'Ahe, a commercial aircraft

pilot for 15 years and head of the Danish Air Line Pilots

Association, is alarmed by the emerging threat.

"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."

Drones striking an aircraft's engines could cause total

power loss, while damage to wings could compromise a jet's

ability to manoeuvre.

Most registered planes emit a signal via a transponder, a

device that identifies aircraft to radar, but drones do not,

leaving pilots in the dark. Regular radars used by airports

struggle to catch drones. Specialised radar exists, but is

typically operated by law enforcement or the military.

Dedrone, a company that produces counterdrone technology,

said there were over 1.2 million drone violations in the U.S. in

2025, with more expected in coming years.

'THERE'S NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO'

Airports can use radar, frequency sensors and jamming tools

to counter drones, while some systems can "spoof" them off

course. But safety concerns mean airports cannot shoot drones

down.

Tim Friebe, an air traffic controller in Germany and a vice

president at the Air Traffic Controllers European Unions

Coordination (ATCEUC), said drones were a "threat that is

growing," while airports often had limited options.

"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.

Drones shut down some of the world's biggest airports from

Munich to London's Gatwick last year, driving operators to beef

up their foreign object and drone detection systems, according

to half a dozen industry officials.

Moritz Burger, a commercial pilot based in Germany, recalled

spotting an object that looked like a balloon with a structure

underneath as he was about to land at a European airport.

"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, adding it

startled him and left him no time to take any evasive action.

"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."

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