Dubai International Airport, the largest international aviation hub, has suspended flights because of the “major combat operation” confirmed by Donald Trump in opposition to Iran.
The transfer comes after Iran and Iraq closed their airspaces in response to the escalating motion, which has seen explosions throughout the Middle East with blasts reported in Bahrain and the UAE, which home US navy bases, in addition to in Jordan and Qatar.
The primary airline at Dubai, Emirates, informed passengers: “Emirates has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai, up until 3pm UAE time [11am GMT] on Sunday, 1 March.
“If you are booked to travel in the next 72 hours, your options are:“Rebook on an alternate flight. You can rebook on another flight to your intended destination up to 10 days from your original date of travel.
“You can request for a refund of your ticket by completing the refund form if you booked with us directly. If you booked your flights with a travel agent, please contact them.
“We urge all customers to check flight status before proceeding to the airport.“
All other airlines using the airport are affected. British Airways passenger Mike Boreham was aboard flight BA108, preparing to depart from Dubai to Heathrow, when the captain announced airspace had closed.
“We were all boarded,” he informed The Independent. “The flight is completely full. About 10 minutes after the ‘boarding complete’ announcement we were told airspace is closed.”
After the closure was introduced, many flights heading for Dubai returned to their beginning factors, together with Emirates from Dublin, Turkish Airlines to Istanbul and LOT to Warsaw – which was additionally the touchdown place for the Emirates inbound flight from Seattle.
On a typical day, round 250,000 passengers arrive and depart at Dubai.
The big Gulf service Qatar Airways has additionally suspended all flights to and from its hub in Doha.
In a post on X (previously Twitter), the airline mentioned: “Qatar Airways Group confirms the temporary suspension of its flights to, and from, Doha due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
“The airline is working closely with government stakeholders and the relevant authorities to support impacted passengers and will resume operations when the airspace re-opens.
“Once usual operations resume, we anticipate delays to our flight schedule.
“We have also deployed additional ground staff at Hamad International Airport and other key airports to assist affected passengers.
“The safety of our passengers and employees is always our highest priority, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
In the Gulf area, Doha is second solely to Dubai by way of the variety of flights and passengers dealt with.
Thousands of British passengers are affected by the airspace closure, together with travellers who’re returning house from places in Asia, Australasia and Africa.
Inbound flights from Colombo and Dhaka have landed at Muscat in Oman. The inbound flight from Chicago is in Cairo, whereas the service from Boston landed in Athens.
Many Qatar Airways flights from Continental European airports have additionally returned to their beginning factors, together with the departures from Berlin, Brussels, Zurich, Vienna, Warsaw, Barcelona, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Brussels, Paris, Milan and Madrid.