Global airlines cancel Middle East flights: List
The ongoing war involving Iran is causing growing financial and logistical disruptions for the global aviation industry, with more than 23,000 flights to Middle Eastern hubs cancelled since the fighting began.
Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has extended its suspension of flights to Dubai through the end of Saturday, marking a full week since the United States and Israel launched their joint attack, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.
Qatar Airways has also prolonged its service suspensions until Friday.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, more than half of the roughly 36,000 flights scheduled to or from the Middle East since February 28 have been cancelled. The disruptions correspond to around 4.4 million airline seats.
The cancellations have stranded thousands of passengers across the Gulf region, forcing many travelers to seek longer and more expensive routes to reach operational airports in Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy said the country is establishing safe air corridors capable of handling up to 48 flights per hour in an effort to restore some level of air traffic through the region.
Here is a list of airlines that have announced adjustments to their regional flight schedules:
Air India
Air France-KLM
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Air France suspended flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh through March 6, and to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut through March 8, according to its website Wednesday.
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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines suspended the remainder of its winter season flights to and from Tel Aviv, starting Sunday. It also halted flights to and from Dammam and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai until March 6, according to a notice published on its website.
British Airways
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Suspended service to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv.
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The airline added daily flights between London and Muscat, Oman, on Friday and Saturday after previously offering service on Thursday. All are fully booked.
Cathay Pacific
China Southern
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Flights between Dubai and Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen and Urumqi are canceled until March 5, the airline said on its WeChat account.
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Services between Riyadh and Shenzhen, Guangzhou are paused, as are flights between Doha and Beijing, Guangzhou.
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Subramania Bhatt, chief executive officer of China Trading Desk, a marketing technology company, said Chinese flyers have canceled more than 77,000 trips to UAE in recent days, translating to a loss of at least $170 million in travel spending.
Delta Air Lines
Emirates
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The world’s largest international airline extended the suspension of flights to and from Dubai through March 7.
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Emirates has scrapped more than 2,000 flights since Saturday, among the most severe disruptions ever for a carrier that prides itself on round-the-clock operations and resilience.
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While the airline has started some limited operations to evacuate people from Dubai, regular commercial flights are canceled.
Etihad
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Extended its suspension of Abu Dhabi flights to March 6.
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A limited number of repositioning, cargo and repatriation flights are operating.
Finnair
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Services between Helsinki-Doha on pause until at least March 6, though Qatari airspace remains completely closed to traffic.
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Operations to and from Dubai are canceled through March 28.
IndiGo
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Budget carrier commenced flights to Athens, Muscat and Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah and Madinah.
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It’s also running select repatriation flights to the UAE, it said in a social media post Wednesday.
Korean Air
Lufthansa Group
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All of its airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv; Beirut; Amman, Jordan; Erbil, Iraq; and Tehran until March 8.
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The group also won’t use the airspace over Israel; Lebanon; Jordan; Iraq; Qatar; Kuwait; Bahrain; Dammam, Saudi Arabia; and Iran until March 8.
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Flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi are suspended until March 6, and the airspace over the UAE won’t be used during that same period.
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Lufthansa will operate an evacuation flight via Oman in the night of March 4 to March 5 on behalf of the German government, using an Airbus A340-300.
Malaysia Airlines
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Flights from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah and Madinah, Saudi Arabia, resumed starting Wednesday.
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Services to Doha remain suspended.
Oman Air
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Flights to and from Amman, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Kuwait, Copenhagen, Baghdad and Khasab are canceled through March 6, according to a post on its X.com account.
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It also advised travelers coming to Muscat to arrive at the border at least 12 hours before their flight because of congestion.
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Russia
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President Vladimir Putin instructed government ministries and agencies to organize evacuation flights from the Middle East.
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Aeroflot plans two flights to Russia from the UAE on Wednesday for passengers whose flights were canceled Feb. 28, the Russian company said in a statement on Telegram.
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Transport Ministry said more than 7,000 people are set to be transported Wednesday by domestic and foreign airlines.
Singapore Airlines
SpiceJet
Virgin Atlantic
News.Az
By Nijat Babayev
