Travel chaos continues as major airlines shutter their Middle East services
Travel chaos continues as major airlines shutter their Middle East services
01:06
Widespread travel disruption to and from the Middle East continued today as airlines cancel flights through key regional hubs that have become the target of Iranian retaliation for hosting US military bases.
Gulf carrier Etihad Airways said this morning that its operations continue to be affected, with flights suspended to and from Abu Dhabi until tomorrow, in light of regional airspace closures impacting services. The United Arab Emirates yesterday implemented a partial closure of its airspace.
Qatar Airways, another Gulf airline, said in an update today that its flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. It added that a further update would be given tomorrow.
Other notable airlines that have cancelled flights include Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Air India and Turkish Airlines.
Lufthansa has announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until March 7, citing the current situation in the Middle East.
Flights are not currently operating to and from Dubai, a popular tourist hotspot, after Dubai airports yesterday shuttered operations at its main airports.
Footage yesterday showed passengers rushing to evacuate smoke-filled passageways at Dubai International after a reported Iranian strike.
Overall, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain and Qatar have closed their airspaces while neighboring countries have also implemented restrictions. Live tracking from FlightRadar24 shows airlines have been forced to reroute and cancel services.
The closure of Iran’s airspace has now been extended until at least Tuesday, with further extensions possible, in a a new “Notice to Airmen,” FlightRadar24 showed.
Flight tracking website FlightAware showed that a total of 7,716 flights have been delayed and 2,280 have been cancelled globally today as of 6 a.m. ET.