Dubai suspends flights following Iran strikes
Dubai suspends flights following Iran strikes and this may cause certain incoming & outgoing aircraft at DXB and Zayed International Airports
Following the US-Israeli assault on Iran, which caused the Gulf countries to block their airspace, international airlines grounded flights throughout the Middle East today.
According to aviation data analysis firm Cirium, 232 flights, or 6.7% of the 3,422 scheduled flights to Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Jordan, are cancelled on Saturday.
According to the data, flights to Israel experienced the most cancellations (37.3%), followed by flights to Jordan (13.3%) and Qatar (10.1%) affecting Tourism.
In a statement released on Saturday by state-run news agency Wam, the civil aviation authority claimed that UAE airspace was temporarily and partially blocked.
As a result, state-run operator Dubai Airports has suspended all flights at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport, the emirate’s second hub, until further notice.
Due to numerous regional airspace restrictions, home carrier Emirates, the largest long-haul airline in the world, says it has halted all flights to and from Dubai.
Flydubai, its sibling airline, too ceased operations.
“This is a developing situation, which we are monitoring closely, and we are working with the relevant authorities while adjusting our flight schedule accordingly,” a spokeswoman for flydubai stated.
Air Arabia, a low-cost airline with bases in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah, announced on Saturday that it had cancelled flights to and from the United Arab Emirates.
Etihad Airways, the country’s flag carrier, reports that its flights to and from Abu Dhabi are experiencing disruptions also affecting Tourism.
It stays that all flights leaving Abu Dhabi are halted till Sunday, March 1 at 14:00 UAE time. There will be no flights arriving in Abu Dhabi before then.
It stated that, subject to “operational conditions,” flights that are scheduled to arrive after this time should continue to operate.
It further states that flights already en route to Abu Dhabi are returning to their original airports as needed.
Following the assaults by the US and Israel, the airspace of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman are closed.
Flights to and from Doha have been suspended, according to Qatar Airways.
The airline said in a statement on X that it expects early flight delays but will resume operations once the airspace reopens.
Saudi Arabia cancelled a number of flights as well.
The “rapid developments and tensions in the region” prompted EgyptAir to suspend flights from Cairo to Kuwait, Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Qusaim, Dammam, Erbil, Baghdad, Amman, Beirut, and Muscat.
According to Turkish Airways, until March 2, its flights from Istanbul to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan will not operate.
According to a notice on X, its flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman have been cancelled till February 28.
Airlines face structurally higher operating costs, weaker aircraft utilisation, and profit margin pressure if airspace avoidance persists, particularly on long-haul networks that depend on Middle East transit corridors, according to Linus Bauer, head of UAE-based boutique consultancy BAA & Partners, who told The National that “if disruptions remain short-lived the impact is manageable.”
High danger
According to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin for the Middle East and the Gulf was released.
It is effective until March and will then be reviewed.
The EASA warned that there is a “high risk to civil aviation” in the impacted airspace and advised airlines not to operate there.
Flights to the area were also halted by British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa, and India’s major carriers, Indigo and Air India.
The effect on airlines
According to Mr. Bauer, the US-Israeli assault on Iran will mostly impact airlines due to “operational inefficiency” rather than a decline in demand for air travel.
Longer and more expensive aircraft rerouting, increased insurance and war-risk premiums, increased route network fragility, increased fuel expenses, and heightened operational disruptions are all consequences of this.
He stated that “Europe-Asia traffic flows are already concentrated through Middle East air corridors” because many airlines are still unable to access Russian airspace because of the conflict in Ukraine.
“Reduced flight routing flexibility compounds congestion, fuel burn and schedule buffers.”
However, he noted that rather than merely slight increases in fuel prices, the true impact on profits frequently results from decreased aircraft productivity, erratic operations, and cargo interruptions.
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