Geopolitical Risks and Airline Operations: A Qualitative Thematic Synthesis of the Impact of Regional Conflicts on Airline Strategies

Geopolitical risks arising from regional conflicts disrupt airline operations in ways that remain underexplored through systematic qualitative methods. This study presents a qualitative thematic synthesis that examines how regional conflicts affect airline operations, safety protocols, financial resilience, and crisis management strategies. A systematic search of the Crossref and OpenAlex databases covering the 2011–2025 period yielded 87 records. After PRISMA‐guided screening, 21 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria and were appraised with study‐type‐appropriate tools: CASP and JBI QARI for qualitative work and the JBI Critical Appraisal Tools for quantitative studies. CERQual was used only to gauge confidence in the qualitative evidence. Braun and Clarke's six‐phase thematic analysis yielded five themes: (1) airspace restrictions and route restructuring, (2) operational safety and threat management in conflict zones, (3) financial vulnerability and market volatility, (4) crisis management and organisational resilience and (5) regulatory adaptation and international cooperation. The analysis shows that airlines facing geopolitical disruptions rely on reactive rerouting, intensify crew resource management protocols, suffer measurable capital‐market losses, and build adaptive crisis frameworks that lack standardisation across jurisdictions. These results point to a need for embedding geopolitical risk assessment in airline strategic planning and for more harmonised international regulatory responses, with direct implications for air transport policy and management practice.