Thousands more flights were cancelled on Monday as turmoil in global aviation intensified following the US-Israel war on Iran, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded worldwide.
Airports and airlines across the Gulf suspended normal operations until at least 10.00 GMT on Tuesday, though a limited number of special services were scheduled to depart from the United Arab Emirates on Monday evening in a cautious attempt to ease the backlog.
The disruption sent airline and travel shares sharply lower after days of mounting uncertainty. Former US President Donald Trump signalled the military action could continue for another four weeks, fuelling fears of prolonged instability across one of the world’s busiest aviation corridors. Several carriers and travel firms have begun offering refunds or free changes to passengers booked to travel in the coming weeks.
Major Middle Eastern hubs, including Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, remained closed for a third consecutive day in what industry observers described as the most severe shock to aviation since the Covid pandemic.
Flights across the region have been widely cancelled, with international carriers continuing to suspend services amid safety concerns. By 10am on Monday, aviation analysts Cirium reported at least 1,555 flights to the Middle East had been cancelled. The firm warned the true figure was likely significantly higher because of limited data from Iran and the United Arab Emirates, where hundreds more services had been scheduled.
The impact has fallen heavily on Gulf airlines that rely on connecting traffic through their regional hubs. Emirates, based in Dubai, and Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi confirmed flights to and from their hubs would not operate until late Tuesday morning. Qatar Airways said it would keep services suspended for as long as Qatari airspace remains closed.
Both Emirates and Etihad indicated they were preparing to resume selected services on Monday evening, raising cautious hopes that wider passenger operations could gradually restart. The UAE’s aviation authority said “special flights” would be permitted across the country’s airports to help stranded travellers leave.
An Emirates spokesperson said passengers eligible to travel would be contacted directly, stressing that most services remained suspended for now.
The scale of disruption has escalated rapidly. According to the tracking platform FlightAware, almost 2,800 flights were cancelled on Saturday, followed by 3,156 on Sunday.
The knock on effects have spread beyond the Gulf. Some UK bound flights to Cyprus were also hit after a drone struck the RAF base at Akrotiri. EasyJet cancelled three return services between Paphos, Larnaca and the UK on Monday, while British Airways confirmed it had scrapped its Monday service to Larnaca.
As of Monday, airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar remained virtually empty, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24, underlining the scale of the continuing aviation crisis.
