Outbound flights from the Middle East still hit by cancellations, except in Oman

Vinod R Nair

Published: 5:23 PM, Mar 19, 2026

Muscat: The Middle East aviation sector has been adversely affected by cancellations since the start of the Iran War on February 28.

It may be noted that the Middle Eastern carriers saw a 7.2% year-on-year increase in demand in January. Capacity increased 7.8% year-on-year, and the load factor was 83.2% (-0.4 ppt compared to January 2025).

But as of March 19 (5 pm Oman time), 31,392 of the total 65,397 scheduled outbound flights from the Middle East have been cancelled since the start of the War on February 28.

Normal operations

With Oman Airports and the Omani airspace functioning normally, Oman Air said its flights continue to operate as normal, with additional services across our network.

However, due to ongoing regional airspace closures, flights to and from Amman (AMM), Dubai (DXB), Bahrain (BAH), Doha (DOH), Dammam (DMM), Kuwait (KWI), Copenhagen (CPH), Baghdad (BGW), and Khasab (KHS) are cancelled until March 31, 2026.

As data for all airlines into and out of the Middle East, the most affected with cancellations are Qatar Airways, 92.18%, Etihad Airways, 76.40%, Gulf Air, 97.52%, Emirates, 50.52%, Flydubai, 63.77%, Air Arabia, 70.05%, Kuwait Airways, 97.27%, Indigo, 75.92%, Air India Express, 74.80%.

Qatar Airways is operating a limited number of flights from March 18 to 28.

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