Many airlines are operating restricted schedules due to airspace restrictions in the Middle East, with 21,915 of the 38,193 services scheduled to fly since February 28 cancelled
Yesterday, British Airways announced that it has suspended all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv until later this month,(Image: Getty Images)
Dozens of flights to and from the UK have been cancelled today as the war in Iran continues.
Many airlines are operating restricted schedules due to airspace restrictions in the Middle East, with 21,915 of the 38,193 services scheduled to fly since February 28 cancelled.
On Wednesday morning, Dubai International Airport was forced to temporarily pause operations due to a drone strike nearby, which wounded four people. Authorities have confirmed that flights have since continued.
Emirates and Etihad are still operating limited schedules from Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports, respectively. Qatar Airways said it is “doing everything possible to support affected passengers and help reunite them with family and loved ones” while Qatari airspace remains closed.
The airline said that operations will resume“ once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority confirms the safe reopening of Qatari airspace.”
Yesterday, British Airways announced that it has suspended all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv until later this month, while its services to and from Abu Dhabi are cancelled until later this year. The decision means hundreds of BA services will be cancelled over the coming months.
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Flight data shared exclusively with the Mirror by analytics firm Cirium shows that 55 of the planned services due to fly today had been cancelled as of 12.45 pm, which is 2.49% of the total scheduled to fly into the UK from the Middle East and vice versa.
UK flights cancelled on March 11
Arrival Country: Flights; Cancelled; Cancel %
- Qatar: 18; 17; 94.44%
- United Kingdom: 493; 15; 3.04%
- United Arab Emirates: 32; 11; 34.38%
- Bahrain: 3; 3; 100.00%
- United States: 113; 2; 1.77%
- Jordan: 3; 1; 33.33%
- Israel: 7; 1; 14.29%
- Germany: 116; 1; 0.86%
- Denmark: 29; 1; 3.45%
- Cyprus: 20; 1; 5.00%
- Uganda: 1; 1; 100.00%
- Ireland: 121; 1; 0.83%
If you are due to fly from or to the Middle East in the coming days, make sure you check your airline’s website for instructions and the Foreign Office website for the latest advice.
What have the airlines said?
- Aegean Airlines – Greece’s largest carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until March 20; Beirut, Erbil and Baghdad until March 25; Dubai and Abu Dhabi until March 19; and Riyadh until March 14.
- Air France–KLM – Air France cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut through March 13, and to Dubai and Riyadh until March 12. KLM suspended flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until March 10, and to Tel Aviv for the rest of the winter season.
- Cathay Pacific – Cancelled all flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until March 31.
- Delta – Cancelled flights from New York to Tel Aviv until March 22 and from Tel Aviv to New York until March 23.
- Emirates – Operating a reduced flight schedule but expects to return to full operations within days, depending on airspace availability and operational requirements.
- Etihad Airways – Resumed a limited commercial flight schedule between Abu Dhabi and several key destinations.
- Iberia Express cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv through March 10.
- Lufthansa Group – Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines suspended Tel Aviv flights through April 2 and Beirut flights through March 28. Flights to Tehran are suspended until April 30, and to Amman, Erbil, Dammam, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until March 15.
- Norwegian Air – Now plans to start flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut on June 15, instead of the previously scheduled April 1 and April 4.
- Qatar Airways – Operating a limited schedule to and from Doha, with some flights resuming from March 9 following temporary authorisation from Qatar’s civil aviation authority.
- Saudia Airlines – Suspended flights to Amman, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain until March 10, and to Moscow and Peshawar until March 15. Limited operations to Dubai have resumed.
- Wizz Air – Suspended flights to Israel until March 29, and flights from mainland Europe to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman and Jeddah until mid-September.