Airlines suspended flights in and out of the Middle East over the weekend as the sprawling region raises the prospect of a protracted war with US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Civil air traffic has been completely closed in various countries of the Middle East such as Israel, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. The partial shutdown has affected the UAE, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
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Airlines responded by suspending their presence in the region. FedEx said pickup and delivery services in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and the UAE have been temporarily suspended until further notice. Shipments to other markets throughout the region may experience longer transit times, the logistics giant said in a service alert.
International airlines including American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, IndiGo and others have also suspended routes to airports in countries affected by the shutdown.
The three largest cargo airlines based in the Middle East – Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways – all suspended their operations over the weekend. Emirates and Etihad briefly resumed on Monday.
Airport shutdowns in the Middle East led to an 18 percent drop in global air cargo capacity over the week, according to data released Sunday by air cargo market intelligence firm Rotit.
The air carrier restrictions mirror those at sea as major carriers have announced they are avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, while those who have avoided a possible return to the Red Sea are now reconsidering that option.
During a three-hour window on Monday morning, Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi resumed limited flights following ground operations following the US-Israeli strike. Etihad Airways had 16 flights from the airport during its brief opening.
Abu Dhabi airport, along with major airports in the Middle East, were all hit by Iranian missiles after the Islamic Republic took a massive revenge in Dubai and Doha.
Two of Dubai’s airports, Dubai International Airport and Dubai International Central-Al Maktoum International Airport, resumed limited flights on Monday night. Emirates and Flydubai have confirmed that they have resumed scheduled flights.
Doha Hamad International Airport is still closed due to the closure of Qatar’s airspace.
The closure of the airport is expected to stop all cargo entering Iran’s borders as conditions across the country remain volatile.
Bloomberg analysis indicates that e-commerce shipments to Iran have seen their estimated lead times increase. Amazon Shipping showed delivery times of 45 days, a 10-day delay from the previous 35-day journey.
Shane and Timo notice that their supply chain is also slow. While Shin’s schedule used to be five to eight days, it has changed from eight to 10. For Timo, the delivery time is now six to 20 days, compared to the previous expectation of seven to 15 days.
Additional attacks on Iran’s infrastructure are likely to prolong the delay. According to Bloomberg, two Chinese sellers who sell through the three e-commerce giants said they have delayed plans to ship new inventory from China to the Middle East until conditions stabilize.
Rotit’s data shows that the Middle East conflict has forced shippers to divert their cargo to different stops around the world, or to abandon it altogether. For example, the Asia-Europe trade route saw a 22 percent increase in capacity due to airlines changing technical stops to Central Asia or flying direct instead.
According to a customer advisory from Seiko Logistics, the remaining flights go through Turkey or the Arabian Sea, adding two to five hours to each leg.
Various logistics companies including Seiko, CH Robinson and DSV all said they expected upward pressure on air freight rates due to capacity constraints.
“A fuel burn of 30 to 50 percent not only increases costs but also reduces payload capacity, limiting the volume of cargo that can be loaded on each flight — even on rerouted services,” Seiko said in Monday’s advisory.
Business lines that include the Middle East were among the best performers in terms of volume growth to start the year, with carriers seeing a 9.3 percent year-on-year increase in air cargo demand in January, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Air cargo volume between the Middle East and Asia increased by 12.9 percent over the previous year, marking the 11th consecutive month of growth. The trade route between the Middle East and Europe also saw double-digit demand growth at 10.2 percent.
Across the board, IATA data showed that air cargo demand, measured by cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased by 5.6 percent. Global cargo volume expanded by 7.2 percent year-on-year, outperforming the headline market, with all regions except the Americas recording higher demand than in January 2025.
