Airlines kept cancelling flights across the Middle East on Sunday, as much of the region’s airspace remained closed a day after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and plunging the region into a new conflict.
Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar remained virtually empty, maps by flight-tracking service Flightradar24 showed, and air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha shut or severely restricted.
Below is the latest on flights listed by airline in alphabetical order:
AEGEAN AIRLINES
Greece’s largest carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon and Erbil in Iraq until March 2.
AIR ASTANA
The group cancelled all flights to the Middle East until March 3.
AIR CANADA
The airline said it has cancelled flights from Canada to Israel until March 8 and flights to Dubai until March 3.
AIR EUROPA
The Spanish airline cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday and was monitoring the situation to assess operations from Tuesday.
AIR FRANCE KLM
Air France cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon for Saturday.
KLM brought forward the suspension of its Amsterdam–Tel Aviv service, cancelling the flight scheduled for Saturday. The Dutch arm of Air France‑KLM had announced on Wednesday that flights would be halted from Sunday but has now advanced that date.
Only one flight to Tel Aviv had been scheduled for Saturday.
AIR INDIA
The carrier cancelled flights scheduled for Sunday from Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar to London, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris. It added that more flights to London, Birmingham, Amsterdam, Zurich, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Frankfurt had been cancelled.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES
The airline has suspended flights to and from Dubai, Doha, Jeddah and Tel Aviv.
BRITISH AIRWAYS
IAG-owned British Airways said it has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 3 and its flight to Amman on Saturday.
CATHAY PACIFIC
Hong Kong’s Cathay Group, parent of Cathay Pacific Airways, suspended operations in the region, affecting passenger flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh, as well as freighter service at Al Maktoum airport. That is Dubai’s second airport after Dubai International Airport, the primary hub that handles most passenger traffic.
EMIRATES
The UAE’s Emirates said in a post on X it had temporarily suspended operations to and from Dubai.
ETIHAD
The UAE’s Etihad said flights scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi were suspended until 2pm local time on Sunday.
FLYDUBAI
The airline said it had temporarily suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 3pm local time on Sunday.
IBERIA EXPRESS
The Spanish airline owned by Iberia Group cancelled a flight to Tel Aviv scheduled for Saturday at 5pm local time.
INDIGO
IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, said it had extended a temporary suspension of select international flights using the Middle East airspace until Monday.
ITA AIRWAYS
ITA Airways has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv and would not use the airspace of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Iran until March 7. Flights to and from Dubai were suspended until March 1.
JAPAN AIRLINES
Japan Airlines cancelled a flight on Saturday from Tokyo Haneda to Doha as well as a return flight on March 1, Nikkei said.
LOT POLISH AIRLINES
LOT Polish Airlines returned its flight LO121 from Warsaw to Dubai to Warsaw.
LUFTHANSA
The German airline suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon, and Oman until March 7 and flights to and from Dubai on Saturday and Sunday.
It also said it would not fly through Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi and Iranian airspace until March 7.
NORWEGIAN AIR
The Nordic airline suspended all flights to and from Dubai until March 4, a company spokesperson said. The carrier did not suspend flights to Tel Aviv in Israel or Beirut in Lebanon as these destinations were only active in summer, he added.
PEGASUS AIRLINES
The airline said that flights to Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon were cancelled until and including March 2.
QATAR AIRWAYS
The airline said flights remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of the Qatari airspace. It would provide a further update by 9am local time on Monday.
SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES
The airline told Reuters it had suspended its flight to Tel Aviv from Copenhagen on Saturday. No decision had been made regarding flights on later dates.
TURKISH AIRLINES
The airline cancelled flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman on Saturday and flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan until March 2.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Virgin Atlantic said it would temporarily avoid Iraqi airspace, resulting in some pre-planned rerouting of its flights and had cancelled its VS400 service from London Heathrow to Dubai on Saturday.
WIZZ AIR
The Hungarian airline halted flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman with immediate effect until March 7.
It added that operational decisions would continue to be reviewed, and the flight schedule could be adjusted as the situation evolved.
Reuters
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