Updated on Thursday 26 March at 5.30pm
Since 28 February, the skies over the Middle East have been in turmoil, with many airspaces closed and airports slowing down. Here's an update on flight cancellations, airline by airline.
The situation at Air France-KLM
Air France has suspended these routes to and from Dubai and Riyadh until 31 March 2026. Flights to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut have been cancelled until 4 April. At the same time, and in response to strong demand from Asia following the massive flight cancellations by Middle Eastern airlines, Air France has been deploying larger-capacity aircraft on certain flights to Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Delhi and Tokyo since 4 March. The airline is also adding extra flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Dehi, Mumbai and Manila, as well as to Nairobi in Kenya. " These capacity additions will continue for the 2026 summer season.says the company, with additional flights scheduled to Bangkok, Singapore, Bengalore, Tokyo and Osaka and the use of larger capacity aircraft on certain flights to Delhi and Mumbai. "
For its part, Transavia France has extended the suspension of its flights to/from Tel Aviv and Beirut until 27 March, and from Jeddah until 28 March. KLM, meanwhile, has suspended its flights to and from Tel Aviv, Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until 17 May.
The situation for Gulf carriers
As far as the Gulf carriers are concerned, activity is still restricted to Dubai. However, following the partial reopening of regional airspace, Emirates is currently operating a reduced flight schedule, including its routes to and from France, with currently three daily flights to Paris and five flights a week to Nice from 18 to 28 March, with service to Lyon not yet resumed ( see his websiteMost of the world's major metropolises are also on its flight schedule. However, this schedule can still be disrupted. Thus, on the morning of 16 March, the fire of a fuel tank following a drone attack had led the authorities to suspend activities at Dubai airport, before Emirates was able to resume its flights.
In Doha, Qatar Airways is gradually increasing its flight schedule and plans to serve more than 90 destinations on its global network by 15 April 2026, including Paris, Frankfurt, London and New York, as well as a large number of cities in Asia (see his website).
Etihad is also gradually resuming its flights to Abu Dhabi. The Emirati airline announces a limited programme more oriented towards several key destinations, including Paris CDG and London, which will be at programme from 20 to 31 march.
The situation for other European airlines :
Lufthansa and the other airlines of the German carrier's parent company are now looking further ahead. After suspending flights to the region until at least 28 March, services to the Middle East by any of the Lufthansa group carriers - Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, ITA Airways and Eurowings - will not resume until 30 April. And this date only concerns the resumption of Eurowings flights to Beirut, Erbil and Tel Aviv, in addition to cargo flights to Israel. For Lufthansa and the other airlines, Tel Aviv and Dubai will not be served until May 31. And for some destinations, the postponement is even greater, to the autumn. Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Dammam, Riyadh, Erbil, Muscat, Teheran: the date of 24 October has now been announced. At the same time, Eurowings will not be resuming services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until this date.
British Airways says it is "constantly monitoring the situation". The British airline has announced that it is cancelling flights to Doha until 30 April and to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai and Tel Aviv until 31 May. Services to Abu Dhabi will not resume until 25 October. At the same time, the British carrier will be adding flights from Muscat in Oman, as well as from Bangkok and Singapore. Another IAG airline, Iberia, is suspending its service to Tel Aviv until 30 April and is having to cancel some of its flights to and from Doha. This has resulted in a flexible policy for travellers who have purchased tickets for flights until 31 May (see its Flight status site).
For its part, Aegean Airlines has suspended services to Dubai and Riyadh until 19 April, Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman until 23 April, and Erbil and Baghdad until 25 May. Air Europa has cancelled all its flights to Tel Aviv until 10 April, and Finnair has stopped services to Doha and Dubai until 28 March. LOT Polish Airlines is cancelling services to and from Dubai until 28 March and Riyadh until 30 April, and to and from Tel Aviv until 31 May, while not serving Beirut airport between 31 March and 30 April.
As for Wizz Air, according to a press release sent to the British website Mirrorsuspended all its flights to and from Israel until 13 April inclusive". as well as flights to and from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman from continental European destinations until mid-September. "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.
The situation for companies in the Near and Middle East :
In Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion airport will operate on a very reduced scale until April 4, but EL AL will be able to maintain essential activity through an air bridge to and from Israel. There will be flights to Paris, London, Milan, Rome and Athens in Europe and New York (JFK and Newark), Miami and Los Angeles in the United States, in addition to five special flights to Bangkok. Flights departing from Israel will carry a limited number of passengers. As part of the restrictions in force, many destinations will not be served until 4 April, including Lyon and Marseille, but also Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin and Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna and Barcelona, as well as most of the capitals and cities of Eastern Europe. EL AL points out that " Ticket sales for outbound flights are closed until 15 April, while inbound flights are available for purchase subject to availability."
A Amman, si la plupart des compagnies européennes ont suspendu la desserte de la Jordanie, la plupart des vols de la compagnie Royal Jordanian sont toujours en activité, notamment la desserte des grandes métropoles européennes, Paris inclus. Pour autant, la plupart des autres compagnies desservant Amman voient toujours leurs vols annulés, l’aéroport tournant à 60% de son activité selon le groupe ADP, gestionnaire de la plate-forme. De le même manière, la compagnie MEA continue d’avoir une activité à Beyrouth, mais plus limitée, avec certains vols vers Paris notamment.
Oman Air has suspended its flights to and from Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Copenhagen, Baghdad and Khasab until 15 April and will resume its service to Dammam on 1 April.er April. However, the airline plans to operate its network of routes to Europe, South-East Asia and Africa as normal.
If Gulf Air has suspended its flights in Bahrain, at the same time, the airline is temporarily postponing some of its commercial flights to Dammam Airport in Saudi Arabia, with connections to Paris, London, Frankfurt, Casablanca, Cairo, Nairobi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangkok.
Saudia dedicates a page from its website where travellers can check the status of their flight, in particular to Amman, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain, or to Peshawar and Moscow, previously affected by suspensions. For its part, Egypt Air announced in March that it had suspended its flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Beirut, Doha, Amman, Dammam, Bahrain, Baghdad, Erbil and Kuwait until further notice, and at least until 5 April.
The situation for American and Asian companies :
Air India continues to serve Muscat and Jeddah, but has suspended services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other airports in the Emirates, Doha, Riyadh and Dammam, Bahrain and Kuwait, Salalah in Oman, and Tel Aviv. Nevertheless, the Indian airline, along with its low-cost carrier Air India Express, will be able to offer flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah outside its usual schedule.
Singapore Airlines cancelled service to Dubai until 30 April and Malaysia Airlines suspended flights to and from Doha until 15 April. Cathay Pacific, meanwhile, has stopped its flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until 31 May, while adding extra flights to Paris CDG, London and Zurich in April, and Japan Airlines has frozen its Tokyo Haneda-Doha route until 10 April.
North American airlines are also looking further ahead to a recovery. United has cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai until 31 March, and Delta Air Lines has suspended the New York-Tel Aviv route until 31 May. As for the Atlanta-Tel Aviv route, it will not resume until 5 September, while the service from Boston, scheduled for the end of October, has also been postponed. American Airlines, for its part, will not be resuming service between New York and Tel Aviv until 23 April, and between Philadelphia and Doha until 7 May. Also in North America, Air Canada has suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 30 April and Tel Aviv until 2 May.
