Missile and drone fire attacks in the Iran war have canceled thousands of flights and closed airspace, stranding travelers across the Middle East and further afield.
One travel industry expert called it “one of the worst shutdowns in aviation history”. The UK Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to several popular tourist destinations.
Millions of travelers planning to fly through Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha – the world’s busiest travel hubs – had to change their plans because of this. war.
Follow the latest updates on the conflict in the Middle East
Which areas are now no-fly zones?
According to Flightradar 24Most of the region’s airspace is closed.
Although some flights have resumed, airspace over Iran, Israel (although some return flights are operating), Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria (except Aleppo) and Qatar is closed.
Passengers stranded at Sydney Airport after a standby flight to Switzerland via Doha was canceled earlier this week. Image: Reuters
in Doha QatarWith an airport that handled 54 million passengers last year, the airspace closure was the worst hit.
FlightRadar24’s head of communications Ian Petchenick told Sky News that “on a normal day, Doha could see 720-730 flights”, adding that “this is almost Qatar Airways capacity”.
A map showing the Middle East
Dubai is not completely closed in the UAE with 92.3 million people traveling in 2024 but operations are limited.
Mr Petchenik said Dubai typically sees 1,250 flights a day at this time of year. But on Thursday, that number dropped to 161.
“The overall numbers we’re talking about are roughly 3,500 to 4,000 flights a day being canceled,” Mr. Petchenik said. “It is slowly trending downwards.
“For the big airlines – so Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways – these are felt over a much wider area. But that doesn’t discount airlines like Jazeera, Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air operating out of Kuwait and Bahrain, which have completely shut down.”
What solutions are airlines offering?
According to global travel industry expert Paul Charles, some airlines are coming up with new ways to get people to their destinations.
He told Sky News: “British Airways, for example, because of capacity constraints, have to fly passengers who normally travel from Singapore to London and from Singapore to the west … They are now flying some of them east from Singapore, sending them back to London via America.”
Mr Charles, founder of PC Agency, a luxury travel PR and trade marketing consultancy, said: “Airspace closures have caused some turmoil among airlines as a lot of their planes are out of place, cabin crew, pilots are in the wrong places.
“And as a result, airline planning teams will have to make significant changes to how they fly passengers around the world.”
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Mr Charles described the recent events as “one of the worst shutdowns and one of the most unexpected shutdowns in aviation history”. He said: “It shows the importance of the Middle East.”
Why are some flights allowed to operate?
Mr Charles said some “safe corridors” were opening up, particularly from Dubai.
“It’s worth saying that airlines won’t risk flying an aircraft in an area with passengers if it’s not 100% safe,” he said.
“These corridors are guaranteed, they are agreed upon by all parties in the conflict zone and there is no way any airline would put its passengers, its crew or aircraft at risk unless they are absolutely sure that the corridor is 100% safe.”
What are the risks if the conflict escalates further?
The industry is also concerned about airspace compression – closing airspace that affects the availability of safe, usable air corridors. This can force the aircraft into more congested and less efficient routes.
“If, for some reason, Azerbaijan has to close its airspace or feels that the safety of the flight is at risk, that is a major concern,” Mr. Petchenik said.
“If, for some reason, Saudi Arabia feels the need to close its airspace, it doesn’t need the safety of these planes, because they’re no longer operating in an unsafe area, but there’s no way to get from point A to point B without these corridors open.”
