Emirates Airbus A380
Gulf carriers will suspend their operations until at least 3 pm local time on Monday, March 2, following the closure of various airspaces after the conflict in Iran. The conflict started early morning on Saturday, February 28, with attacks from Israeli and US Air Forces on targets in Iran, followed by retaliatory strikes by Iran on Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Gulf carriers were operating their morning flights as business as usual on Saturday morning, with many European and US-bound services crossing Iraqi and Iranian airspace, when events started. Flights were redirected via Saudi Arabia to avoid the Middle East, where fighter jets were active and Iranian missiles found their way westward to targets in Israel.
When drones or other explosives hit the airport in Kuwait City, air bases in Bahrain and Qatar, and targets in Abu Dhabi, authorities closed their airspace for commercial traffic. Later on Saturday, strikes hit various urban areas in Dubai as well as Terminal 3, resulting in the partial evacuation of DXB.
Conflict Zone bulletin
On March 1, the European aviation authority EASA issued a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin, valid until March 2, until further notice. It includes the airspace of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the UAE, and the Jeddah Flight Information Region in Saudi Arabia.
“Given the current and expected developments, there is thus a high risk to civil aviation in the affected airspace. Air operators should: 1) Not operate within the affected airspace at all flight levels and altitudes; 2) 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.”
Airlines
The airspace closure is seriously affecting all airlines in the region. What is their status at noon on March 1?
Emirates/flydubai
Emirates and flydubai have temporarily suspended flights in and out of Dubai until March 2, 3 pm local time. Both carriers had originally hoped to resume services on March 1, but as Iran continued its strikes on the UAE it had no other options but to extend the suspension. Emirates had been confronted with a temporary suspension on June 23 last year, when Israel and the US also attacked Iran, but this time, the effects are dramatic.
A very large part of its fleet has been stranded in destinations across the world since Saturday afternoon. Outbound morning flights reached their destinations, but inbound flights were cancelled. Aircraft in flight to Dubai were diverted. Airbus A380s coming back from the US were diverted to Munich, Vienna, and Rome. The flight from Sao Paulo was already over Africa, but returned to Brazil. The Auckland service had just crossed Australia before making a U-turn back to New Zealand.
Around noon European time on March 1, only five flights were showing on Flightradar24, including fifth-freedom services between New York to Athens, Barcelona to Mexico City and back, plus a couple of SkyCargo flights. No flydubai flights were active.
Air Arabia
Air Arabia has suspended services in and out of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, but continues to operate out of Egypt and Morocco.
Etihad
Etihad had no active flights on March 1, as it suspended all flights until March 2, 2 pm local time. It too has a large part of the fleet parked abroad, with crew and spare crew out of position. This will take days to sort out.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways extended its flight suspension until 9 am on March 2, subject to developments. Just a single cargo service between Chicago and Amsterdam showed on Flightradar24 on Sunday afternoon, but other aircraft have not been able to return to Doha since Saturday. The capital of Qatar and especially a US air base on the outskirts have been targeted, while the remains of downed missiles plunged into the streets.
Gulf Air
With Bahrain in the frontline of retaliatory strikes and the closure of its airspace, Gulf Air has also suspended services. Its website doesn’t say until when: “Gulf Air continues to monitor developments in coordination with the relevant authorities.
Kuwait Airways/Jazeera Airways
On the app and website of Kuwait Airways is no reference to the current situation, but low-cost Jazeera Airways says that flights have been suspended until further notice. The airspace is closed, and the airport in Kuwait City needs repairs after it received a direct hit on Saturday.
Oman Air/Salam Air
Positioned further south in the Arabian Peninsula, Oman Air is largely unaffected by the events. It has only suspended flights to destinations in the Gulf region, but other flights operate as normal via Saudi airspace.
Oman’s other airline, Salam Air, resumed operations on March 1, except for destinations in Iran, Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait. They are suspended until further notice.
El Al
Israel’s flag carrier El Al says on its website: “Following the declaration of a special situation on the home front and the closure of Israel’s airspace for departures and arrivals, as directed by the security and aviation authorities, all EL?AL and Sundor flights to and from Israel that were scheduled to depart through Tuesday, March 1, at 2:00 AM (between March 2 and 3) are cancelled.”
Flightradar did show some El Al flights on Sunday, but between Larnaca (Cyprus) and Paros and between Pafos (Greece) and Budapest (Hungary) only. Nothing was flying in and out of Tel Aviv.
Saudia
Saudia Airlines has suspended flights to and from Amman, Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Moscow and Peshawar until March 2, 23:59 GMT.
Besides the airlines specifically mentioned here, various carriers have been affected as they have aircraft and crew stranded at airports in the Gulf region. Others have suspended service to the region. Lufthansa Group announced that it will operate in the Middle East and Gulf region until March 7. KLM says that flights to Dubai, Riyadh, and Dammam will be “disrupted” until at least March 3. British Airways says it has cancelled several flights to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv.
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