Updated 1 March 2026 at 09:50 IST
US, Israel Strikes On Iran Spark Major Aviation Crisis: Flights Cancelled, Passengers Left Stranded As Airspaces Shut Across Middle East
Large parts of Middle East's airspace were shut down on Saturday, leaving thousands of flights cancelled or diverted after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, triggering retaliatory attacks and widespread aviation disruption worldwide. Iran, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates announced full or partial closures of their airspace in the hours following the strikes, reports said, citing security concerns.
Dubai: Large parts of Middle East's airspace were shut down on Saturday, leaving thousands of flights cancelled or diverted after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, triggering retaliatory attacks and widespread aviation disruption worldwide.
Iran, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates announced full or partial closures of their airspace in the hours following the strikes, reports said, citing security concerns.
Operations at key global transit hubs including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, airports that serve as critical connectors between Europe, Africa and Asia were also suspended.
Major international carriers including Air France, Air India, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian and Air Algerie announced cancellations and rerouting of services to avoid affected airspace. It is also to be noted Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways, which were among airlines significantly impacted by the flight disruptions, reportedly handle roughly 90,000 transit passengers on a daily basis.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic, faced major operational disruption, sustained damage on Saturday, with four injuries reported at the scene. “Dubai Airports confirms that a concourse at Dubai International (DXB) sustained minor damage in an incident, which was quickly contained. Emergency response teams were immediately deployed and are managing the situation in coordination with the relevant authorities,” Dubai Media authorities said in a separate statement earlier. Dubai continues to be one of the biggest tourism and trade hubs in the Middle East with its airport being one of the world's busiest travel hubs.
Iran was among the first to shut its skies “until further notice,” according to its Civil Aviation Organisation, as explosions were reported in Tehran and other cities. Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, while Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq also announced suspensions of air spaces.
The UAE said it had implemented a partial and temporary closure of its airspace as a precautionary measure. Syria closed sections of its southern airspace along the border with Israel for 12 hours, while Jordan said its air force was conducting defensive patrols over the kingdom.
Published By : Anushka De
Published On: 1 March 2026 at 09:50 IST