Global Aviation Disrupted: Air Travel In Huge Chaos As Major Airlines Cancel Hundreds Of Flights Amid Middle East War Fallout

Global air travel remained heavily disrupted on Sunday as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai, the world's busiest international hub, closed in one of the sharpest aviation shocks in recent years. Key transit airports, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar, were shut or severely restricted as much of the region’s airspace remained closed after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. Israel said it launched another wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday while loud blasts were heard for a second day near Dubai and over Doha after Iran launched retaliatory air attacks on the neighbouring Gulf states.

Dubai International Airport sustained damage during Iran's attacks while airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit. Thousands of flights have been affected across the Middle East, according to data on flight-tracking platform FlightAware.

Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar remained virtually empty, maps by Flightradar24 showed early on Sunday.

The flight-tracking service said that a new "Notice to Airmen" (NOTAM) had extended closure of Iranian airspace until at least 0830 GMT on March 3.

Below is the latest on flights listed by airline in alphabetical order:

Afghan Airlines

Greece's largest carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon and Erbil in Iraq through March 3.

Air France KLM 

Air France cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh through March 3.

KLM said its flights to and from Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam may be disrupted through March 6 and flights to and from Tel Aviv were suspended.

Air India

The airline suspended all flights to and from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Qatar through March 2. It also cancelled some flights to and from Europe on March 2.

British Airways

IAG-owned British Airways said customers flying between London and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai or Tel Aviv through March 15 can change their flight date free of charge to travel on or before March 29. Those travelling up to March 8 may also request a full refund.

Cathay Pacific Airways

The Hong Kong airline said it had cancelled all of its flights to and from Dubai until March 5 and suspended its flights to Riyadh through March 3.

Emirates

Emirates said it had suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 1100 GMT on March 2.

Etihad Airways

The carrier said it had suspended all flights to and from its Abu Dhabi hub until 1000 GMT on March 2.

IndiGo

IndiGo, India's biggest airline, said it had suspended all flights that used Middle Eastern airspace until at least March 2.

ITA Airways

ITA Airways has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv and would not use the airspace of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Iran until March 7.

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines suspended its Tokyo-Doha flights for the time being, which it said affected about 1,000 passengers across six flights scheduled from February 28 to March 3.

LOT Polish Airlines

LOT Polish Airlines said all of its flights to and from Tel Aviv were cancelled through March 15.

Lufthansa

The German airline suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Dammam, Erbil and Tehran until March 8 and flights to and from Dubai until March 4.

Malaysia Airlines

The Malaysian carrier suspended all flights to and from Doha, Jeddah, and Madinah until March 4.

Norwegian Air 

The Nordic airline suspended all flights to and from Dubai until March 4, a company spokesperson said. The carrier did not suspend flights to Tel Aviv in Israel or Beirut in Lebanon as these destinations are only active in summer, he added.

Singapore Airlines

The Singaporean carrier said it had cancelled flights to and from Dubai through March 7. Its low-cost airline Scoot cancelled flights to and from Jeddah through March 7.

Qatar Airways 

The airline said it temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha due to the closure of Qatari airspace.

Turkish Airlines

The airline cancelledsomeflights to and from Bahrain, Dammam, Riyadh, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria and United Arab Emirates and asked customers to check its website for the latest updates.

Wizz Air 

The airline halted flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until March 7. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed; Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Editing by Barbara Lewis, Louise Heavens and Christian Schmollinger)

Ripple Effects

The airport closures have rippled far beyond the Middle East. Dubai and neighbouring Doha sit at the crossroads of east-west air travel, funnelling long-haul traffic between Europe and Asia through tightly scheduled networks of connecting flights. With those hubs idle, aircraft and crews remained stranded out of position, disrupting airline schedules worldwide.

"It's the sheer volume of people and the complexity," said UK-based aviation analyst John Strickland.

"It is not only customers, it is the crews and aircraft all over place."

Airlines across Europe, Asia and the Middle East cancelled or rerouted flights to avoid closed or restricted airspace, lengthening journeys and driving up fuel costs. The disruption has been intensified by the loss of Iranian and Iraqi overflight routes, which had grown more important since the Russia-Ukraine war forced airlines to avoid both countries' airspace. The Middle East airspace closures were squeezing airlines into narrower corridors, with fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan adding a further risk, said Ian Petchenik, communications director at Flightradar24.

"The risk of protracted disruption is the main concern from a commercial aviation perspective," Petchenik said.

"Any escalation in the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan that results in the closure of airspace would have drastic consequences for travel between Europe and Asia."

Highlighting the scale of the disruption, Air India cancelled its flights on Sunday departing from Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar for major cities in Europe and North America.