UAE resumes limited flights amid travel chaos across Middle East | Travel news

Dubai’s airport authority said it had authorized a limited number of flights as hundreds of thousands of people were stranded.

The United Arab Emirates has resumed a limited number of flights amid ongoing travel chaos across the region prompted by the United States and Israel’s joint war on Iran.

Dubai’s Airports Authority said on Monday it had authorized a “small number” of flights to operate from Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest gateway for international passengers, and Dubai World Central Airport.

Passengers should not make travel plans unless contacted directly by their airline with a confirmed departure time, the authority said.

Dubai-based Emirates announced the resumption of a “limited” number of flights on Monday evening and said customers with previous bookings would get priority.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said commercial flights would be suspended until Wednesday, but some “return, cargo and return flights” could take place subject to operational and safety approvals.

At least 16 Etihad Airways flights left Abu Dhabi on Monday for destinations including London, Amsterdam, Moscow and Riyadh, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

According to FlightRadar24, at least two Emirates flights from Dubai landed in Mumbai and Chennai in India early on Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday morning, two Abu Dhabi-bound Etihad flights were diverted to Muscat, Oman, and a Dubai-bound Emirates flight was diverted back to Mumbai, flight tracker said.

“Iran-conflict-driven disruption is typically more geographically concentrated, but it’s still severe, because it affects some of the world’s most important east-west corridors and creates quick knock-on effects,” Tony Stanton, Australia’s strategic air advisory director, told Al Jazeera.

Countries including Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain have closed their airspace amid US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and Tehran has suspended travel across the Middle East amid retaliatory strikes on US allies in the region.

More than 11,000 flights in and out of the region have been canceled since the start of the conflict on Saturday, prompting governments to consider plans to repatriate their citizens, according to aviation data firm Sirius.

On Monday, Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadefuhl said Berlin would send chartered flights to Saudi Arabia and Oman to evacuate “particularly vulnerable” people who cannot go home.

Stanton, the aviation analyst, said the airline sector could face a lasting impact if the conflict drags on for a few weeks, especially if key routes become unviable and insurers and regulators raise operating costs.

“During that time, you may see route maps ‘reset’ – some services suspended indefinitely, hubs losing connection banks and traffic moving to alternative routings or to alternative hubs perceived as less-risky and more reliable,” he said.