The latest update at 3.30pm on Friday 12 March.
Since the launch of the American and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February and the Iranian retaliation that followed, the skies over the Middle East have been closed to civilian flights, not only in Israel and Iran, but also in Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria and, temporarily, the United Arab Emirates. All of this has led to a cascade of flight suspensions for most airlines. We take a look at the situation company by company.
European airlines :
Air France has suspended these flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until 17 March 2026 inclusive (until 18 March for flights departing from Dubai). Services to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut have been cancelled until 18 March inclusive. For its part, KLM has suspended its flights to and from Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until 28 March. As for Tel Aviv, the Dutch airline has suspended all its operations until the end of the winter season, i.e. until 29 March.
Lufthansa and the other airlines of the German carrier's parent company - Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and ITA Airways - have suspended their flights to and from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Amman and Erbil until 15 March. Services to Beirut and Tel Aviv have been suspended until 28 March and 2 April respectively. Flights to Teheran have been suspended until 30 April. However, flights to Larnaca resumed on 7 March.
British Airways says " constantly monitor the situation ". The British airline has announced the cancellation of its flights to Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv. "until later this month". and to Abu Dhabi". until later in the year" . At the same time, the British carrier will be adding flights from Muscat in Oman from 9 to 12 March. Another IAG airline, Iberia, has announced a flexible policy, cancelling flights to and from Doha until 15 March, while suspending its service to Tel Aviv until 30 April.
The same applies to most other European airlines. Air Europa has cancelled all its flights to Tel Aviv until 20 March and Finnair has suspended its flights to Doha and Dubai until 28 March. LOT Polish Airlines is cancelling its services to and from Dubai and Tel Aviv until 28 March and Riyadh until 16 March, while not serving Beirut airport between 31 March and 30 April.
Closer to the region in the midst of the conflict, Aegean Airlines has suspended flights to Riyadh airport until 14 March, to Dubai airport until 28 March, and to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Erbil and Baghdad until 29 March.
For its part, Turkish Airlines has announced the cancellation of some of its flights to and from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Iran, Iraq and Syria, as well as Dammam and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Companies from the Near and Middle East:
Because of the closure of their airspace, these are the carriers most directly affected by the current war. All EL AL and Sundor flights to and from Israel scheduled until 14 March have been cancelled. At the same time, the Israeli airline is organising repatriation flights to New York, Los Angeles and Miami in the United States every day until 19 March.
For its part, Gulf Air has suspended its flights to Bahrain, with no resumption date announced but probably at least until 21 March. Passengers holding tickets up to this date can change their reservation free of charge or obtain a refund.
Due to the closure of airspace in Doha, Qatar Airways' scheduled flights remain temporarily suspended until at least 8 March. However, following the temporary authorisation granted by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority confirming the safety of the air corridor, Qatar Airways planned to operate flights to Frankfurt, Madrid and London on 12 March, as well as to Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, New York, Beijing, Mumbai and Delhi, among others. For the following days, between 13 and 16 March, the airline will be offering flights to Paris CDG on 13 and 15 March and to London Heathrow every day. Amsterdam will also be served on 13 and 16 March, Milan on 13 March, Rome on 14 March, Madrid on 14 and 15 March and Frankfurt on 14 and 16 March. In addition to other major destinations around the world.
Etihad is also gradually resuming flights to Abu Dhabi. The Emirati airline is announcing a limited programme of flights to several key destinations until 19 March, including Paris CDG, linked to the emirate by one flight on 12 and 14 March and two flights on 13 and 15 March. The Abu Dhabi airline also offers daily services to London - with two flights a day - Frankfurt, Dublin, Cairo as well as numerous Indian and South East Asian cities. Depending on the day, Copenhagen, Prague, Zurich, Geneva, Vienna and Madrid are also on the schedule, as are New York and Sydney.
Although Dubai's airports are open, activity there is still restricted. But Emirates intends to return to nearly 60 % of its route network from 7 March, while planning, with reservations, a return to 100 % of its network in the next few days. All the major cities are on its flight schedule, including Paris CDG and Nice.
For its part, Saudia has cancelled all its flights to Amman, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain until the evening of March 12, and to Peshawar and Moscow until March 15, while the airline has resumed services to Dubai on a limited basis. Egypt Air has also announced that it has suspended flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Beirut, Doha, Amman, Dammam, Bahrain, Baghdad, Erbil and Kuwait until further notice.
In Amman, which is positioned as a gateway to the region, particularly from Israel, most of Royal Jordanian's flights are still operating, particularly to all the major European cities, including Paris. However, most of the other airlines serving Amman are still seeing their flights cancelled. In Beirut, while MEA's operations were more or less normal on 6 March, they were extremely reduced on 10 March, with other carriers' services also cancelled.
Oman Air has announced the cancellation of its flights to and from Amman, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Kuwait, Copenhagen, Baghdad and Khasab until 15 March. However, the airline plans to operate its network of routes to Europe, South-East Asia and Africa as normal. In addition, Muscat airport is one of the gateways from Dubai to Europe, India and Asia, so the airline is facing strong demand and will be adding flights to Paris, Milan, Rome, Munich, Amsterdam, London, Istanbul, Cairo and Bangkok until 15 March.
American and Asian companies:
In addition to Oman Air, other airlines linking Muscat to Europe include British Airways, KLM, Swiss and Turkish Airlines, as well as Egypt Air and Air India. The Indian airline, which has suspended its routes to the Middle East as a whole, has decided to step up its flights to Europe and North America. From 10 to 18 March, Air India will be boosting its capacity with 78 additional flights to nine destinations, including Paris CDG, as well as Frankfurt, London Heathrow, New York, Amsterdam, Zurich, Colombo and Malé.
Like Air India, if Malaysia Airlines has cancelled its flights to and from Doha until 13 March. Other Asian airlines are looking further ahead. Cathay Pacific has cancelled its flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until 31 March - while adding extra flights to London and Zurich - and Japan Airlines has suspended its Tokyo Haneda-Doha flights scheduled until 21 March and until 22 March in the Doha-Tokyo direction. Singapore Airlines has also frozen its service to Dubai until 28 March.
Air Canada has suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 28 March and Tel Aviv until 2 May, while Delta Air Lines has suspended the New York-Tel Aviv route until 22 March and United has cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai until 31 March.
