Dubai announced late on Monday evening that Dubai airports had resumed full operations "following a temporary precautionary pause". Dubai Media Office said that "the safety and wellbeing of all travellers and aviation staff remain the highest priority". Flights to and from the UAE witnessed some delays and disruption on Monday evening as a number of regional countries closed their airspace due to an Iranian attack on US air base Al Udeid in Qatar.
While Dubai Airports is working with airlines to ensure flights operate according to schedule, some flights may experience delays or cancellations. Dubai Media Office advised travellers "to stay informed by checking regularly with their airlines for the latest updates".
Meanwhile, Etihad Airways has cancelled “select” flights on Monday and Tuesday.
“Etihad Airways is rerouting a number of its flights on Monday, June 23 and Tuesday, June 24 in response to airspace restrictions in parts of the Middle East,” an Etihad Airways representative confirmed to The National on Monday.
“This is a developing situation and the airline is continuously monitoring security and airspace updates.”
The airline urged passengers to check the status of their flight online.
“Etihad Airways flights only operate through approved airspace, safety is always our highest priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so,” the representative said.
The following Etihad flights have been cancelled:
June 23:
- EY669 on June 23 from Abu Dhabi to Doha and EY670 from Doha to Abu Dhabi
- EY657 on June 23 from Abu Dhabi to Kuwait and EY658 from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi
- EY696 on June 23 from Abu Dhabi to Muscat and EY697 from Muscat to Abu Dhabi
- EY559 on June 23 from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh and EY560 on 24 June from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi
June 24:
- EY651 on June 24 from Abu Dhabi to Kuwait and EY652 from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi
- EY663 on June 24 from Abu Dhabi to Doha and EY664 from Doha to Abu Dhabi
- EY575 on June 24 from Abu Dhabi to Dammam and EY576 from Dammam to Abu Dhabi
On Monday night, several landed on schedule at Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport, including Etihad flight EY477 from Denpasar to Abu Dhabi and Etihad's EY327 from Jaipur to Abu Dhabi.
British Airways has confirmed to The National that “flights to and from Dubai continue to operate”; this is despite earlier cancellations.
British Airways flight BA107 from London Heathrow to Dubai was cancelled on June 23; however, BA 109 from the London airport to Dubai is currently due to take off on time, at 9.30pm BST, and scheduled to land at 8.35am GST.
In a statement issued to The National, a British Airways spokesperson confirmed the airline has “suspended flights to and from Doha up to and including Wednesday, June 25”.
The current statement on Dubai Airports website is consistent with messaging for the past week.
“Due to recent airspace closures affecting parts of the region, flights operating out of Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International (DWC) may experience delays, cancellations or diversions. We strongly advise all travellers to check with their airline for the latest flight status before heading to the airport, and to allow extra time for their journey,” the statement reads.
The National has also reached out to Emirates, Air Arabia and flydubai representatives for comment.
