Global airlines felt the impact of the growing conflict on the Middle East, with missile exchanges forcing companies to divert routes through a vast area, cancel flight schedules and return aircraft on the flight.
Qatar suspended flights about its airspace on Monday night, just before Iran launched a missile attack on a US air base in the country around 7:45 pm local time. Qatar’s Qatar Airways operations actually paralyzed and forced dozens of flights from companies such as Etihad, Emirates and Flydubai to divert. Other Persian Gulf countries followed the example, including Bahrain and Kuwait.
Flights from and to Dubai International Airport, the busiest in the world, were temporarily suspended, and west routes are not available at the moment, according to an internal memorandum of Emirates Airlines obtained by Bloomberg News. Emirates representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The United Arab Emirates also closed their airspace as a precaution, according to a source familiar with the subject. However, flights continued to arrive and departed from the Emirates after more than 10 aircraft were diverted during closing, according to post on the social networking website X by FlightRadar24, aviation data provider.
Dozens of flights to the Gulf were diverted to safer airports in the Egyptian capital Cairo, India and Belgium, including flights from London and Zurich for destinations such as Dubai and Qatar, according to data from Cirium aviation consultant.
Interruptions are the most significant so far for air traffic in the region. Qatar Airways operates globally from its doha hub, connecting more than 170 destinations worldwide. Turkish Airlines suspended services for Gulf destinations, including Dubai, which houses one of the busiest airports in the world, while other companies, such as Singapore Airlines Ltd. and British Airways, canceled flights.
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The latest events indicate an expansion of the war between Israel and Iran after US President Donald Trump attacked Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday. The dramatic climbing, and the retaliation of Iran, threaten to destabilize economies that until then were protected from the effects of regional conflicts.
Qatar and Dubai have invested decades to become global aviation powers, which means that any reduction or total closure of air services has a serious ripple effect on the travel industry. Doha and Dubai are close to Iran, on the other side of the Persian Gulf and not far from the Strait of Ormuz, a crucial sea to the world’s oil supply that has become a critical point in the growing conflict.
Dubai is the headquarters of Emirates, the largest international airline in the world. Hamad International Airport in Doha, the capital of Qatar, is among the top ten, operating more than 500 daily flights. Together they manage much of traffic in the Middle East and are connection points for long -range travel between Asia, Europe and North America. They had avoided previous suspensions, which were restricted to countries around Israel and the heavens over nations through which Iranian missiles pass.
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Prior to US attacks on Sunday, Tehran threatened to reach American bases in the Persian Gulf if Washington got involved, and closes the Ormuz Strait. The Alu Udeid base in Qatar houses the regional headquarters of the US Central Command, which supervises US forces in the Middle East.
It is the largest American base in the region, while Bahrain houses the fifth Fleet of the US Navy.
“An expanded conflict around Ormuz’s Strait could threaten global air traffic, especially if flight restrictions on Qatar and the United Arab Emirates occur,” Bloomberg Intelligence Eric Zhu and George Ferguson analysts wrote in a previous note. Excluding local companies, Indigo Indigo, Turkish Airlines and British Airways are among the most exposed, they say.
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Singapore Airlines has suspended flights to Dubai since Sunday for safety concerns.
British Airways diverted a flight to Dubai to Zurich after entering Saudi Arabia airspace in the early hours of Sunday, showed data from FlightTar24. Another plane returned to Heathrow after reaching Egypt.
The Londrina company also suspended routes to Bahrain by the end of the month due to operational and airspace restrictions.
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Asian companies also took steps to protect passengers and crews. Japan Airlines reported that its flights between Haneda airport in Tokyo and Doha will avoid airspace over the Persian Gulf and Oman’s Gulf. The India Air will progressively avoid the use of certain air spaces on the Persian Gulf in the coming days.
Even before US attacks, several US and European companies had paused flights to the United Arab Emirates and catar after Israel began bombing to Iran.
The skies over large areas of the Middle East have been restricted several times in the last 20 months, making it difficult for Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
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The closures forced airlines to cancel flights on lucrative routes, spend more fuel and pass through countries that normally avoid, such as Afghanistan, to avoid dangerous areas. They also resulted in hundreds of canceled flights and thousands of retained passengers.
Israel began to allow exit flights after interrupting them from their latest attacks on Iran, started on June 13. Tel Aviv is expected to allow about 1,000 passengers per day from Ben Gurion and Haifa airports.
The United Kingdom is organizing a charter flight to British citizens who wish to leave Israel, while Germany has sent a military plane to remove its citizens, and France also plans repatriation flights.
“It all depends on how long it will last,” said Ziad Daoud, Bloomberg Economics emerging chief economist on the impacts of flight cancellations. “If the interruption lasts a day or two, there will be no impact, but if it is prolonged, it will obviously be a problem.”
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