Business

Flight operations in the GCC are adversely affected

Published: 03:02 PM,Feb 28,2026 | EDITED : 07:02 PM,Feb 28,2026

 

Muscat: The air traffic in the Middle East has been adversely affected following the US-Israel attacks on Iran.
According to Cirium, Saudi Arabia reported 28 flight cancellations (2.19%) of the total 1,277 scheduled flights, while the UAE 8.81%, Qatar 10.15%, Iran 2.61% Oman 4.10%, Jordan 13.33%, and Bahrain 8.82% of their flights cancelled.
As of now, for combined today and tomorrow, total cancellations will be UAE 5.08%, Qatar 20.14%, Saudi Arabia 1.27%, Jordan 10.55%, Iran 1.43%, Bahrain 5.13%, Oman 2.03%

Airlines suspended flights across the Middle East on Saturday, including to and from the world's busiest travel hub, Dubai.

Flight maps showed airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain virtually empty. Dubai Airports said all flights at Dubai International, which handled nearly 100 million passengers last year, as well as the smaller Al Maktoum International airport, were suspended until further notice, urging passengers not to travel.
“Due to multiple regional airspace closures, Emirates has temporarily suspended operations to and from ⁠Dubai,” the Dubai-based carrier said, while its sister airline, flydubai, said it had temporarily suspended operations.
Etihad Airways said all flights scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi were suspended until 1000 GMT on Sunday, and flights expected to arrive at the Gulf hub before that time would be cancelled.

'Flights already en route to Abu Dhabi are returning to their origin airports where required,' it added.

Airports in the Middle East are some of the busiest in the world, covering an area stretching from Iran and Iraq to the Mediterranean and serving as ​a connecting hub for flightsbetween Europe and Asia.

The European Union's aviation regulator EASA on Saturday recommended its airlines stay ‌out of ⁠the airspace affected by the ongoing military intervention.

Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to and from Dubai on Saturday and Sunday and temporarily halting some routes until March 7.

Qatar Airways and Kuwait Airways have temporarily suspended flights, while Turkish Airlines also cancelled flights to several Middle Eastern destinations. Kuwait's aviation authority said it was halting all flightsto Iran until further notice, according to the state news agency, while Oman Air said it had suspended all flights to Baghdad due to the regional developments.

KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, has brought forward the suspension of its Amsterdam-Tel Aviv service, canceling the flight scheduled for Saturday after strikes in Iran, a spokesperson said.

The airline had announced on Wednesday that flights would be halted from Sunday, March 1. Only one flight to Tel Aviv had been scheduled for Saturday. Virgin Atlantic said it had decided to temporarily avoid Iraqi airspace, resulting in some re-routing of its flights.