Airlines are moving to protect employees and passengers amid escalating violence in the Middle East. They’ve been rerouting and canceling flights since Iran’s armed forces fired a coordinated missile attack on a U.S. military installation in Qatar. This increased intensity of hostilities has had serious consequences for the safety of air travel, forcing the suspension or diversion of hundreds of flights throughout the region.
At the same time, American Airlines had already suspended its own service to Doha, Qatar, and United Airlines just recently stopped flying to Dubai. It turned out to be a perfect storm. More than 20 passenger jets that were en route to Doha had to be diverted, and four commercial airliners flying to Dubai had to turn back midflight. The current state of hostilities in the region has raised security concerns and led airlines to take proactive steps to safeguard passengers and operational security.
In response, Air India pledged to put some schedule cuts in place to allow for more rigorous safety checks to be made on its flights. Earlier this week on Monday, Emirates Airlines made the stunning announcement that it has permanently rerouted dozens of its aircraft. Our customers will face increased delays or longer flight times as a result of today’s actions.
Further compounding this was that as the conflict escalated, U.S. carriers had already withdrawn their own services to Israel, citing security concerns. By Monday afternoon EDT, airspace over the entire Middle East was closed. At the same time, the UAE temporarily closed its airspace, adding to the confusion for airlines. The simultaneous closure of airspace has forced carriers to avoid large swaths of the Middle East. As a result, they make longer, more expensive deliveries via routes that use significantly more fuel.
The impacts of these disruptions go far beyond the lost flights in the moment. The war in Ukraine that broke out in 2022 closed off a significant part of Russian airspace to many carriers. That reality has already placed extraordinary stress on the global aviation ecosystem. It’s a brave new world for airlines operating in the Middle East. They have done an amazing job through this pandemic keeping their doors open, and most importantly keeping passengers safe.
“We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options and will keep the situation under review.” – British Airways