Major aviation hubs in the Gulf suspend operations with airspace closed and airlines forced to cancel and divert flights, leaving passengers stranded around the world.
Euronews -Thousands of flights across the Middle East and Gulf were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday as several countries closed their airspace after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were among the nations that announced at least partial closures of their skies, forcing flight suspensions, cancellations and diversions, which left tens of thousands of passengers stranded around the world.
The conflict led to the closure of key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the cancellation of more than 1,800 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. Of around 4,218 flights scheduled to land in Middle Eastern countries on Saturday, 966 (22.9%) were cancelled. For Sunday, 716 flights out of 4,329 scheduled to the Middle East have been cancelled.
Meanwhile, flight tracking website FlightAware said more than 19,000 flights had been delayed globally and more than 2,600 were cancelled as of 2:30 am GMT on Sunday (3:30 am CET).
‘No one really knows what’s going on’
It is unclear how long the disruption to flight operations could last – which leaves passengers in travel limbo.
Jonathan Escott and his fiance had arrived at the airport in Newcastle, England, on Saturday only to find out that his direct flight to Dubai on Emirates was cancelled, leaving everyone on the flight stuck there. Escott left to go back to where he was staying with family, about an hour from the airport, but has no idea when he may be able to travel.
“No one knows,” Escott said. “No one really knows what’s going on with the conflict, really. Not Emirates, Emirates don’t have a clue. No one has a clue.”
Incidents at regional aviation hubs
In retaliation to the strikes by the US and Israel, Iran launched a series of attacks on Israel and Gulf nations that host US military bases – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
The three major airlines in the Gulf – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways – typically have about 90,000 passengers per day crossing through those hubs and even more travellers headed to destinations in the Middle East, Cirium said.
Two airports in the UAE reported incidents as the government there condemned what it called a “blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Saturday.
Officials at Dubai International Airport – the largest in the UAE and one of the busiest in the world – said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said that one person was killed and seven others were injured in a drone strike. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.
Though Iran did not publicly claim responsibility, the scope of retaliatory strikes that Gulf nations attributed to Iran extended beyond the American bases that it previously said it would target.
“For travellers, there’s no way to sugarcoat this,” says Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group. “You should prepare for delays or cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end.”
Operations remain suspended
Airports across the Middle East remained closed on Sunday as the conflict moved into its second day. The situation is changing quickly and airlines urged passengers to check their flight status online before heading to the airport.
On X, Dubai Airports confirmed that all flight operations at Dubai International and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International are suspended until further notice. Emirates airline has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai up until 3 pm local time (12 pm CET) on Sunday.
Flights at Qatar’s Hamad International Airport remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. The country’s flag carrier, Qatar Airways, will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of airspace. The airline said on social media that a further update will be provided on Monday 2 March by 9 am local time (7am CET).
At least 145 planes that were en route to cities like Tel Aviv and Dubai early Saturday were diverted to airports in cities like Athens, Istanbul or Rome, according to FlightAware. Others turned around and returned to where they took off from. One plane spent nearly 15 hours in the air after leaving Philadelphia and getting all the way to Spain before turning around and returning to where it started.
Numerous airlines cancelled international flights to Dubai through the weekend, as India’s civil aviation agency designated much of the Middle East – including skies above Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon – as a high-security risk zone at all altitudes.
At 10:30am CET on Sunday, FlightRadar24’s live map showed the main east-west air corridor over Iraq – typically one of the busiest aviation “superhighways” linking Asia and Europe – almost completely empty. The route, which usually carries a constant stream of long-haul flights crossing between the two continents, appears devoid of traffic, underscoring the disruption currently affecting airspace across parts of the Middle East.
Which airlines are affected?
Gulf carriers Emirates and Etihad cancelled 38% and 30% of their flights respectively on Saturday, Cirium said, while Qatar Airways suspended all flights from Doha with 41% of all flights cancelled. Etihad said that all flights to and from Abu Dhabi are suspended until 2 am UAE time on Monday 2 March (11 pm CET on Sunday 1 March).
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air has suspended all flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Amman with immediate effect, up to and including 7 March, and to and from Saudi Arabia until 2 March.
In an update, Turkish Airlines has cancelled flights to and from Bahrain, Dammam and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria and the UAE.
Air France suspended flights to Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh on Sunday. Dutch airline KLM had already announced earlier in the week that it was suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv.
British Airways is not flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until 4 March, while a number of flights to the Middle East have also been cancelled. The airline said if passengers are due to fly between London Heathrow and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai or Tel Aviv they can change their flights free of charge up to and including 6 March. Customers travelling up to and including 4 March may also request a full refund.
Lufthansa Group airlines – which includes Lufthansa, SWISS International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, and Eurowings – has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, and Tehran until 7 March. The following airspaces will also not be used until 7 March: Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, and Iran. In addition, Lufthansa Group airlines will suspend flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, and Dammam until 1 March. Furthermore, the airspace of the UAE until 1 March. Affected passengers can rebook to a later travel date free of charge or, alternatively, receive a full refund of the ticket price.
Finnair has suspended daily flights to Dubai and Doha until 6 March, while Norwegian is suspending its flights to and from Dubai up until and including 4 March. “We will then assess if it’s possible to resume flights,” said the budget carrier.
Delta Air Lines has suspended its New York-Tel Aviv flights until Sunday 1 March, while American Airlines’s Doha-Philadelphia flights are “temporarily suspended”. Air Canada has cancelled flights from Canada to Israel until 8 March and to Dubai until 3 March.
Air India has suspended flights to all destinations in the Middle East on Sunday 1 March. Pakistan International Airlines, the flag carrier of Pakistan, which borders Iran, said it had suspended flights to the UAE, Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait.
Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia’s flag carrier, temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha “until further notice”, the company said in a statement on Sunday.
Are passengers entitled to compensation?
Airlines that are crossing the Middle East and Gulf will have to reroute flights around the conflict with many flights headed south over Saudi Arabia. That will add hours to those flights and consume additional fuel, adding to the costs airlines will have to absorb. So ticket prices could quickly start to increase if the conflict lingers.
Responding to the flight cancellations, Ella Jo Rhodes, a travel expert at UK consumer champion Which?, said on Saturday: “In light of the ongoing situation in the Middle East, many airlines are taking precautionary steps to amend their schedules, including cancelling flights in the region. Given the extraordinary circumstances, passengers on delayed or cancelled flights will not be entitled to compensation.
“However, if you are flying with a UK or EU airline, or are departing a UK or EU airport with any carrier, your airline should provide assistance during your delay. Depending on the length of your delay, assistance may include food and drink and, where necessary, overnight accommodation. If your journey is cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund.”
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