A two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran – announced on Tuesday, 7 April – means changes to the flight disruption to the Middle East. Bahrain and Iraq’s airspace were reopened as of Wednesday, 8 April and their carrier airlines – Gulf Air and Iraqi Airways – are resuming operations via phased plans starting this week.
The region’s major airlines, including Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Qatar, have been slowly increasing their flight schedules over the past few weeks, with networks expected to grow in the coming weeks.
Airspace in many parts of the region, including Kuwait and Iran, remains closed or restricted, while in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, flights are operating through controlled aviation corridors. Partial airspace closures for commercial aircraft will likely continue throughout the ceasefire.
As a result of the ongoing disruption, several international airlines have adjusted their schedules, suspending routes to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and parts of the Middle East for months to come.
Here’s what travellers with Middle East flights booked need to know right now.
Which airlines are operating in the Middle East?
All airlines with flights into airports in closed or restricted airspace are currently operating with reduced and limited schedules, including routes headed for Dubai International Airport, Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, Bahrain International Airport, Doha’s Hamad International Airport, Kuwait International Airport, Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Emirates: Emirates is currently running a reduced flight schedule “due to the regional situation”. The government-owned carrier advises passengers to “check your flight status, even after you have checked in”. Customers who are booked to travel until Thursday, 30 April can request a refund or rebook on another flight until Monday, 15 June. “We’ll do our best to rebook you on the next available Emirates flight,” the airline says. “This applies to most disrupted tickets, including journeys connecting beyond Dubai.” According to Flightradar24, Emirates is operating at 70 per cent of its usual schedule.
Etihad Airways: Etihad is operating a limited schedule to 80 destinations. As per Flightradar24, this equates to 65 per cent of its pre-war schedule. Tickets are now on sale via the Etihad website to several destinations across the globe, with additional destinations set to be added as “conditions permit”. Passengers with previous bookings will be accommodated on these flights as soon as possible. Passengers with Etihad flight tickets issued on or after Friday, 6 March, for travel scheduled up to 31 March 2027, may change their booking once without a rebooking fee.
Qatar Airways: Qatar Airways has updated its flight schedule, “reflecting the gradual increase in flights to and from Doha.” Valid until Wednesday, 15 April, routes cover a range of international departures and destinations, including Cairo, Casablanca, Miami, New York, Toronto, Frankfurt, Madrid, London, Bangkok, Beijing and Mumbai. For the full list of routes, see the Qatar Airways website. Flightradar24 estimates the government carrier are running at 40 per cent of its pre-February 28 schedule.
Flydubai: Flydubai has “resumed its operations with a reduced schedule”. Customers are advised not to travel to the airport unless they have received confirmation that their flight is operating. Customers who were booked to travel between Saturday, 28 February and Tuesday, 31 March are being given the option to rebook up to 30 days from their original travel date or to cancel their booking and receive a full refund.
Gulf Air: Gulf Air has confirmed that its services to and from Bahrain International Airport “will gradually resume” after Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs confirmed the reopening of airspace. Starting from Friday, 10 April, there will be two weekly flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Thiruvananthapuram, Dhaka, Kochi, Hyderabad, Nairobi, Lahore and Islamabad. While there will be three weekly flights between Bahrain and London and one route per week between the Kingdom and Dubai. Running alongside it, the airline’s temporary operations using King Fahd International Airport in Dammam will continue until April 30. Transport between Bahrain and Dammam will be arranged for passengers with confirmed tickets.
Air Arabia: Air Arabia has started operating scheduled flights between Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and a number of international destinations – including Vienna, Athens, Cairo, Kathmandu, Muscat, Islamabad, Jeddah and Bangkok. The full list can be viewed and booked on the Air Arabia website. Passengers whose flights were previously cancelled may also rebook if they have not yet used their modification or refund option.
Air India: Air India and Air India Express are operating a range of non-scheduled flights to and from the Middle East which you can view on their website. The airline is not following scheduled operations and is instead running a limited number of flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi on an ad-hoc basis. Flights to Jeddah and Muscat are running as scheduled.
Iraqi Airways: Iraqi Airways started running domestic and international flights, as the country reopened its airspace for the first time since the conflict began. The first international routes include Cairo, Istanbul and Amman, alongside domestic routes to Basra, Sulaymaniyah and Erbil.
Which airlines have suspended and cancelled Middle East flights?
Cathay Pacific: Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific has cancelled all flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until at least 31 May. Customers booked to travel up until 31 May may rebook, reroute or refund their tickets as per the airline’s ticket waiver policy. “We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely. Further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days with the safety of our customers and people being our first priority,” the airline said in a statement.
British Airways: British Airways has cancelled all flights between London Heathrow and Amman, Bahrain, Dubai and Tel Aviv up to and including 31 May. Its Doha route will be reinstated at the end of April. Its daily flight between London and Abu Dhabi has been suspended until later this year. “We’re keeping the situation under constant review and are in touch with our customers to offer them a range of options,” the airline said in a statement on Monday, 16 March.
Oman Air: Oman’s state-owned flag carrier has cancelled flights to and from Amman, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Kuwait, Copenhagen, Baghdad and Khasab until Thursday, 30 April, when another update will be provided.
SalamAir: Oman’s SalamAir is putting on flights between Fujairah International Airport and Muscat, with connecting journeys to Lucknow, Calicut, Hyderabad, Istanbul, Karachi and Cairo. Tickets should be purchased directly from the airline’s website or an authorised travel agency. Flights to Iraq, Lebanon, Sharjah, Doha, Kuwait and Iran are suspended until Thursday, 30 April, while to Dammam have now resumed.
IndiGo: Indian carrier IndiGo are “almost back to operating its regular schedule with 126 weekly flights to/from Saudia Arabia and 28 weekly flights to/from Oman. Additionally, IndiGo’s will operate 98 weekly flights to/from UAE.” This comes after the temporary suspension of flights to Doha, Kuwait City, Sharjah, Bahrain, Dammam, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah “due to the evolving situation in the Middle East”.
Lufthansa: German carrier Lufthansa is suspending all flights to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Dammam, Riyadh, Erbil, Muscat and Tehran, until Saturday, 24 October. With its Dubai and Tel Aviv routes on pause until Sunday, 31 May, “due to ongoing airspace risks over Iran and Iraq”. The airline added, “the suspensions force Europe-to-Asia flights onto longer detours via Egypt or Central Asia, adding one to two hours to flight times and pushing fuel costs into fares”.
Virgin Atlantic: British carrier Virgin Atlantic has suspended its service from London to Dubai for the rest of the winter. With the seasonal route meant to be running until Saturday, March 28, the airline put out a statement on Sunday, 8 March saying: “The recent escalation in the Middle East has brought forward the end of our operation for this season.” Those with tickets for Virgin flights are advised to contact the airline as their teams are “actively working to support those who still need to travel, including exploring and securing arrangements with other airlines wherever possible”.
Norwegian: In a statement on its website, budget carrier Norwegian has cancelled all flights to and from Dubai up to and including Wednesday, 8 April, though no flights are currently bookable until later in the year. “This is a provisional decision, and further changes may be made,” it said in a statement on its website. “Affected passengers will be informed directly using the contact details provided in their booking”. Stranded passengers in Dubai should contact customer service as “there are very limited alternative flight options available”.
KLM: Dutch airline KLM has cancelled all flights to and from Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam up until and including Sunday, 17 May. In a statement issued on Thursday, 19 March, the airline said: “Due to ongoing geopolitical unrest in the Middle East, KLM has decided to cancel all flights to Dubai up to and including May 17. The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority. We understand that this decision has a significant impact on our travellers and are doing everything possible to keep them well informed. Passengers whose flights have been cancelled will be notified personally. They can change their flight or request a refund on the KLM website.”
Kuwait Airways: Commercial arrivals and departures at Kuwait International Airport (KWI) are currently on hold. Kuwaiti citizens with existing bookings with the airline are being flown to Jeddah as part of an emergency repatriation plan. From Saudi Arabia, passengers are required to complete the final leg of their journey to Kuwait by land.
Air Canada: On Friday, 13 March, Air Canada announced it will cease operating flights to Dubai until Tuesday, 30 April, and to Tel Aviv until Saturday, 2 May “due to the military situation in the Middle East”.
Singapore Airlines: Singapore Airlines has extended its suspension of flights between Singapore and Dubai until Thursday, 30 April, due to the ongoing geopolitical situation in the Middle East. The carrier has cancelled services on the route since Saturday, 28 February. “Customers affected by the flight cancellations will be reaccommodated on alternative flights or can seek a full refund of the unused portion of their ticket,” the airline said in its latest website update. Passengers who booked directly can request refunds online, while those who booked through travel agents or partner airlines are advised to contact them directly for assistance.
Middle East airspace closures
The United Arab Emirates has partially reopened its airspace. Dubai Airports, the authority that oversees both Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC), is operating a limited number of flights. Passengers are urged not to go to the airport unless they have been directly contacted by their airline about rebooking.
Qatar has partially reopened its airspace to allow a limited number of repatriation flights to take place.
Bahrain and Iraq have reopened their airspace in light of the ceasefire, announced on Tuesday, 7 April.
Iran and Israel have closed their airspace.
Kuwait has also closed its airspace and has reported a drone attack on its airport. In a statement published by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation, it was confirmed that the attack caused “minor injuries to several employees and limited material damage to Terminal 1”.
Saudi Arabia‘s airspace is also impacted, although not all flights have been grounded. “Passengers travelling to destinations impacted by ongoing events are urged to check directly with their airlines for the latest flight updates before leaving for the airport,” King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Jeddah Airports, and Dammam Airports advised.
Which destinations are affected?
The impact has widened to include major regional hubs and key transit corridors:
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi: UAE airspace has partially reopened, with a limited number of flights operating from Dubai International (DXB), Dubai World Central (DWC) and Zayed International Airport (AUH). Services remain selective and passengers are being contacted directly by airlines if booked on operating flights.
- Iraq: Iraqi airspace has reopened for commercial aircraft as of Wednesday, 8 April.
- Iran: Airspace remains closed or largely avoided by international airlines, with most carriers continuing to reroute around both countries.
- Kuwait: Airspace remains closed and commercial operations at Kuwait International Airport are suspended following a drone strike that damaged Terminal 1.
- Doha: Qatari airspace remains partially open, with Qatar Airways operating a reduced flight schedule to and from Doha.
- Bahrain: Bahraini airspace has been reopened as a result of the ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US.
- Tel Aviv: Israeli airspace remains heavily restricted, with many international carriers continuing to suspend services or pause routes.
What are aviation authorities advising?
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has issued an advisory to European carriers, advising against operating in affected airspaces at “all flight levels and altitudes”.
In a statement, it advised carriers to “closely monitor airspace developments in the region and follow all available aeronautical publications concerning the region, including information shared through the European Information Sharing and Cooperation Platform on Conflict Zones, alongside available guidance or direction from their national authorities”.
What does this mean for travellers?
Travellers should expect a range of practical disruptions, including:
- Technical stops: particularly on low-cost carriers, with unscheduled fuel stops in southern Europe
- Cancellations: while airspace is closed, airlines have no choice but to ground flights
- Schedule shifts: if and when flights resume, expect there to be a knock-on impact on flight schedules as airlines scramble to get passengers back in the air
- Rerouting delays: longer flight durations even on services that remain operational
Airlines are offering refunds and flexible rebooking options, though policies vary by carrier.
Source: cntravellerme.com
This article was updated with the latest information on Sunday, 12 April 2026
