Lufthansa has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv and Erbil until Saturday, the airline said on Friday, adding it would fly around Iraqi airspace during the same period.

"The safety of passengers and crews is always the top priority; the Lufthansa Group does not rely solely on government assessments, but evaluates the current safety situation itself and then makes its own decisions," the company said. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; editing by Matthias Williams)