UAE airlines have delayed and cancelled flights following Israel’s early morning attack on Iran.
Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv has shut down until further notice, Iran has declared its airspace closed and Iraq has temporarily suspended civilian operations at all its airports.
Etihad Airways, the UAE's national carrier, cancelled its services to and from Tel Aviv on Friday, as Israel placed its air defence systems on high alert in anticipation of possible retaliation.
The Etihad flights cancelled on Friday are:
- EY595: Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv
- EY596: Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi
The Abu Dhabi airline is helping passengers whose plans have been disrupted with alternative travel arrangements.
Other major airlines, including Emirates, Lufthansa and Air India, rerouted services mid-flight on Friday. An Emirates flight from Manchester was diverted to Istanbul, while an Air India flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to Sharjah.
In a statement issued to The National, Emirates said it had cancelled and rerouted some flights. The airline said it is “monitoring the situation and making all efforts to ensure minimal disruption to customers, while assisting impacted passengers”.
The Emirates flights cancelled on Friday, to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran, are:
- EK945/EK946: Dubai–Basra-Dubai
- EK943/EK944: Dubai‑Baghdad–Dubai
- EK903/EK904: Dubai–Amman‑Dubai
- EK905/EK906: Dubai–Amman–Dubai
- EK957/EK958: Dubai–Beirut–Dubai
- EK953/EK954: Dubai–Beirut–Dubai
- EK979/EK978: Dubai–Tehran–Dubai
- EK980: Tehran‑Dubai
On Saturday, EK977 (Dubai to Tehran) and EK978 (Tehran to Dubai) have been cancelled.
Flydubai, too, confirmed several of its flights have been impacted due to the temporary closure of airspace over Iran and Israel in the early hours of Friday.
A statement released by the low-cost Dubai airline said: “Flights to Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Iran and Israel have been suspended and a number of flights have been cancelled, rerouted or have returned to their destination of origin.
“We are monitoring the situation in the region closely and adjusting our flight schedule accordingly. The safety of our passengers and crew remains our top priority. We are in direct contact with passengers whose travel plans have been affected.”
Sharjah's Air Arabia has temporarily cancelled its flights to and from Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Russia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
Passengers are advised to ensure their contact details are up to date and to check their flight status on each airline's website and app.
Changes to regional flights
Qatar Airways has announced it has temporarily halted flights to Iran and Iraq.
The affected airports in Iran include:
- Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA)
- Mashhad International Airport (MHD)
- Shiraz International Airport (SYZ)
The affected airports in Iraq include:
- Baghdad International Airport (BGW)
- Erbil International Airport (EBL)
- Basra International Airport (BSR)
- Sulaymaniyah International Airport (ISU)
- Najaf International Airport (NJF)
Oman Air has cancelled two of its flights:
- WY413: Muscat to Amman
- WY414: Amman to Muscat
"We are assisting affected passengers and apologise for any inconvenience caused," it said in a statement. "The rest of our network is operating as scheduled and European flights are being rerouted to avoid affected airspace."
Kuwait Airways shared a post in Arabic on social media announcing that their flights are operating normally according to their scheduled times. They also said that they are coordinating with the general administration of civil aviation and the concerned parties regarding any responses.
They are prepared to deal with any emergency circumstances that may arise and assure passengers that they are following regional developments
Syrian Airlines suspended its flights to the UAE and Saudi Arabia due to the temporary closure of Jordanian and Iraqi airspace. The airline said that it is closely monitoring the situation.
Syria also closed its airspace on Friday in a "temporary" measure after the Israeli strikes on Iran.
Civil Aviation Authority chief Ashhad al-Salibi told the official Sana news agency that Syrian airspace would be "temporarily closed until 3pm as part of precautionary measures we are taking to ensure the safety of civil aviation amidst the current regional developments".
How international airlines in US and Europe are responding
Several other airlines around the world are also reacting to the rising tension in the region.
Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair – which cancelled flights to Tel Aviv in May – said on its website that it has extended its suspension of service to and from Tel Aviv until August 31. It also added that it is cancelling flights to Amman from Friday until July 11.
US carrier Delta Airlines posted on its website that travel to, from, or through Tel Aviv, might be impacted between Thursday to June 30. It advised travellers to "check flight status frequently for up-to-the-minute information."
Air-France has suspended its flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice, while Dutch carrier KLM has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until at least July 1, according to ANP News.
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air said that it had cancelled several flights scheduled to fly over areas affected by regional tensions in the Middle East.
Greece's Aegean Airlines has cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv scheduled for Friday, it said on its website.
Latvia's airBaltic said all of its flights to and from Tel Aviv until June 23 have been cancelled. El Al Israel Airlines said that it had suspended flights to and from Israel.
Russia's Aeroflot has cancelled flights between Moscow and Tehran, and made changes to other routes in the Middle East after Israeli strikes on Iran.
Air India said that several of its flights are either being diverted or returning to their origin.
Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet has cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq and Jordan until Monday morning, an AJet source told Reuters.
The source added that AJet will operate flights to Lebanon only during daylight hours. It plans to operate flights to elsewhere in the Middle East including flying over Iraq without using the affected airspace.
Lufthansa said that it had suspended all flights to and from Tehran. The German airline added that it would also avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Israeli airspace for now.
Romania's flag carrier Tarom has suspended all commercial flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman until Monday.
