Stock Markets April 28, 2026 01:37 PM

Airlines Adjust Schedules as Middle East Conflict Continues to Disrupt Routes

Carriers inside the region scale capacity while many outside reroute or suspend services to Middle Eastern hubs

By Jordan Park
Airlines Adjust Schedules as Middle East Conflict Continues to Disrupt Routes

Airlines have continued to alter schedules and suspend services in response to ongoing disruptions tied to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Middle Eastern carriers have increased capacity in recent weeks, while carriers based outside the Gulf continue rerouting or suspending flights that pass through major regional hubs. The following report, organized alphabetically by carrier, lists current service changes and planned resumptions.

Key Points

  • Middle Eastern carriers have increased capacity recently, while non-Gulf airlines keep rerouting or suspending services that traverse major regional hubs.
  • Numerous carriers across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East have provided specific suspension or restart dates for routes to destinations such as Tel Aviv, Dubai, Riyadh and Doha.
  • Impacted sectors include commercial passenger aviation and air cargo, with downstream effects on international travel demand and route network planning.

Middle Eastern airlines have expanded capacity in recent weeks following severe disruption related to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to carrier notices, while many carriers outside the Gulf persist in rerouting flights between Europe and Asia away from principal hubs in the region. The items below are presented in alphabetical order by carrier and reflect the latest published schedule adjustments.


AEGEAN AIRLINES - Greece's largest carrier said it will resume flights to Tel Aviv from Athens on April 28, from Heraklion on April 30 and from Rhodes and Larnaca on May 21. Services from Thessaloniki to Tel Aviv remain cancelled until June 26. The carrier will resume flights to Riyadh and Amman on May 21. Flights to Beirut are cancelled until June 26, to Dubai until June 29, and to Erbil and Baghdad until July 2.

AIRBALTIC - Latvia's airBaltic has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until June 28. Flights to Dubai are cancelled until October 24.

AIR CANADA - The Canadian carrier has cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai until September 7.

AIR EUROPA - Air Europa has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until May 31.

AIR FRANCE-KLM - Air France has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh until May 10. KLM has suspended flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Dubai until June 14.

CATHAY PACIFIC - The Hong Kong carrier has suspended passenger services to Dubai and Riyadh until June 30 and cargo freighter services to those two destinations until May 31. To address increased demand to Europe, Cathay Pacific will operate additional passenger flights to London, Paris and Zurich in April, and it intends to operate all scheduled flights beyond June.

DELTA - The U.S. carrier has cancelled its New York-Tel Aviv services and delayed the restart of its Atlanta-Tel Aviv route until September 5. The planned launch of a Boston-Tel Aviv route, previously scheduled for late October, has been delayed until further notice.

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES - The Israeli carrier said it is continuing to expand operations gradually and, from April 27, will operate flights to roughly 40 active gateways. All EL AL flights to Dubai are cancelled until May 31.

EMIRATES - The UAE carrier said it is operating a reduced flight schedule while continuing service to more than 100 destinations.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS - Etihad Airways has said it is operating a commercial flight schedule linking Abu Dhabi with around 80 destinations.

FINNAIR - The Finnish carrier has cancelled its Doha flights until July 2 and continues to avoid the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Israel. Finnair will only restart Dubai services in October.

IAG - Within IAG, British Airways is set to reduce flights to the Middle East when services resume and will permanently drop Jeddah as a destination, while reallocating capacity to India and Africa. From July 1, BA plans to reduce services to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv to one daily flight, and to cut Riyadh services from two daily flights to one from mid-May. These changes apply through the summer season ending October 24, with a single Dubai service restarting on October 16. IAG's Spanish low-cost carrier Iberia Express has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv through May 31.

JAPAN AIRLINES - Japan Airlines has suspended scheduled Tokyo-Doha flights until May 31 and Doha-Tokyo flights until June 1.

LOT - The Polish carrier suspended flights to Tel Aviv until May 31. LOT has also cancelled Riyadh services until June 30 and Beirut services from March 31 to May 30. The airline plans to operate its winter route to Dubai in October.

LUFTHANSA GROUP - Members of the Lufthansa Group - Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Edelweiss - have suspended flights to Dubai and Tel Aviv until May 31. Additional suspensions for the group include flights to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Dammam, Riyadh, Erbil, Muscat and Tehran through October 24. Low-cost carrier Eurowings, also associated with the group, suspended flights to Tel Aviv until May 11, to Beirut and Erbil until May 14, and to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until October 24. ITA Airways extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Riyadh and Dubai until May 31.

MALAYSIA AIRLINES - The Malaysian carrier suspended flights to Doha until June 14.

NORWEGIAN AIR - The low-cost airline has delayed planned launches of its Tel Aviv and Beirut services until June 15.

PEGASUS - Turkey's Pegasus Airlines cancelled services to Iran, Iraq, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah until June 1.

QANTAS - Australia's flag carrier is adding flights to Rome and Paris in response to stronger demand for European routes. Paris services will increase to five roundtrips per week from three, and the Perth-Singapore service will increase from daily to 10 flights per week. The updated schedule will be implemented progressively from mid-April and run until late July.

QATAR AIRWAYS - Qatar Airways will restart daily flights to Damascus, Bahrain and Kozhikode from May 1. The carrier says it will expand its international network to more than 150 destinations from June 16.

ROYAL AIR MAROC - Royal Air Maroc said flights to Doha are cancelled until June 30 and flights to Dubai are cancelled until May 31.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES - Singapore Airlines extended the suspension of its Singapore-Dubai service until May 31, and has added services on the Singapore-London Gatwick and Singapore-Melbourne routes from late March through October 24 to meet elevated demand.

TURKISH AIRLINES - SUNEXPRESS - SunExpress, the joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, has cancelled flights to Dubai until May 21.

WIZZ AIR - Wizz Air is delaying the return of flights to Israel until May 4, and is suspending flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman from mainland European destinations until mid-September. The carrier has also suspended all flights to Medina indefinitely.


This list reflects carrier announcements and schedule publications as they currently stand. Many carriers continue to make iterative changes in response to evolving operational conditions. The adjustments cover passenger and, in some cases, cargo services, and include both temporary suspensions with specified restart dates and indefinite suspensions for certain routes.

Risks

  • Extended or repeated suspensions - Many carriers have set restart dates but also extended suspensions to dates months ahead, creating uncertainty for route planning and revenue for airlines and related travel sectors.
  • Route concentration and hub avoidance - Continued rerouting away from major Middle Eastern hubs could disrupt connectivity between Europe and Asia, affecting cargo flows and transfer passengers.
  • Indefinite suspensions - Some services, including Wizz Air's Medina flights, are suspended indefinitely, posing longer-term uncertainty for specific markets and regional travel demand.

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