Thursday, 05 March 2026
Thursday, 05 March 2026
Airspace over much of the Middle East was shut on Sunday after coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Tehran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks triggered closures and flight cancellations.
Air India cancelled 22 flights in addition to the 28 overseas flights cancelled on Saturday, since Israel-US air strikes over Iran grounded global air travel operations to a halt.
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.
In addition to the 50 cancellations, Indian airlines’ are expected to cancel at least 444 international flights by the end of the weekend, according to the civil aviation ministry.
Indigo said in a social media post on X: “In view of the prevailing situation, the temporary suspension of international flights that use Middle East airspace has been extended till 2nd March 2359 hrs IST.”
German airline Lufthansa has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, Dammam and Tehran until and including March 8. It also said airspace over Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam and Iran was closed until and including March 8. Flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi were suspended until and including March 4 and United Arab Emirates airspace was not to be used until and including March 4.
After Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspaces, hundreds of thousands of travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports.
1800 flights have been cancelled by major Middle Eastern airlines.
The three major airlines that operate in the region, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad account for about 90,000 passengers per day across these hubs, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The UAE's Emirates said in a post on X it has temporarily suspended operations to and from Dubai.
Etihad said flights scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi were suspended until 2 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Qatar Airways said flights remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of the Qatari airspace. It will provide a further update by 9 a.m. local time on Monday.
“Dubai just shut down. The busiest international airport on earth,” wrote author and entrepreneur Shanaka Anslem Perera on X.
“Dubai International and Al Maktoum International both suspended all operations on February 28 per official Dubai Airports statement. Over 280 flights were canceled. 250 more delayed. The airspace that handles more international passengers than any hub on the planet went dark this morning because Iranian ballistic missiles were flying through it,” he added.
Officials at Dubai International Airport, said four people were injured. Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said that one person was killed and seven others injured in a drone strike. Kuwait International Airport also reported strikes.
Although Iran has not claimed responsibility yet, the possibility of retaliatory strikes by Iran has extended beyond the American bases that the Iranian government said it would.
