Global air travel continues to be sharply affected after the Iran war led to the shutdown of principal Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, leaving many travellers unable to fly as scheduled. Airlines have responded with an array of timetable reductions, cancellations and selective restarts. The following account sets out, in alphabetical order by airline, the currently disclosed changes to services.
AEGEAN AIRLINES
Greece’s largest carrier plans a phased return to services to Tel Aviv: flights from Athens are due to restart on April 28, from Heraklion on April 30, and from Rhodes and Larnaca on May 21. Services from Thessaloniki to Tel Aviv are cancelled until June 26. The carrier will resume flights to Riyadh and Amman on May 21. AEGEAN has also cancelled flights to Beirut 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 through May 31 and has suspended services to Dubai until October 24.
AIR CANADA
Air Canada has removed flights to both Tel Aviv and Dubai from its schedule until September 7.
AIR EUROPA
The Spanish carrier has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv through May 31.
AIR FRANCE-KLM
Air France has suspended operations to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh until May 3. KLM has suspended flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Dubai until June 14.
CATHAY PACIFIC
Cathay Pacific has suspended passenger services to Dubai and Riyadh until June 30. Its cargo freighter services to Dubai and Riyadh are suspended until May 31. To address a rise in demand to Europe, the airline will operate additional passenger flights to London, Paris and Zurich in April, and it intends to run all scheduled flights beyond June.
DELTA
Delta Air Lines has cancelled its New York-Tel Aviv services and postponed the restart of its Atlanta-Tel Aviv route until September 5. The planned launch of a Boston-Tel Aviv route, scheduled for late October, has been delayed until further notice.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES
El Al said it is gradually rebuilding its network and, from April 27, will serve about 40 active gateways. The carrier has cancelled all flights to Dubai until May 31.
EMIRATES
Emirates is operating a reduced timetable but continues to fly to more than 100 destinations.
ETIHAD AIRWAYS
Etihad Airways states it is running a commercial schedule between Abu Dhabi and approximately 80 destinations.
FINNAIR
Finnair has cancelled its Doha flights until July 2 and is avoiding the airspace above Iraq, Iran, Syria and Israel. The airline will only resume flights to Dubai in October.
IAG
IAG-owned British Airways will reduce services to the Middle East once they resume and will permanently drop Jeddah as a destination, while reallocating capacity to India and Africa. BA plans to cut services to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv to one daily flight from July 1, and to reduce Riyadh services from two daily flights to one from mid-May. These changes apply through the summer schedule that ends on October 24, and one Dubai service is scheduled to restart on October 16. IAG’s Iberia Express has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv through May 31.
KUWAIT AIRWAYS
Kuwait Airways will resume flights to 17 destinations from Kuwait International Airport on April 26 after the country’s airspace was reopened. Jazeera Airways, another Kuwaiti carrier, will restart services to nine destinations from Kuwait after temporarily shifting operations to Saudi Arabia.
JAPAN AIRLINES
Japan Airlines has suspended scheduled Tokyo-Doha services until May 31 and Doha-Tokyo flights until June 1. The airline will also operate additional flights between Tokyo and London on April 25.
LOT
Poland’s LOT has suspended flights to Tel Aviv until May 31. The carrier has cancelled flights to Riyadh until June 30 and suspended flights to Beirut from March 31 through May 30. LOT intends 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. Flights to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Dammam, Riyadh, Erbil, Muscat and Tehran are suspended until October 24. Low-cost Eurowings has 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 has extended suspensions of flights to Tel Aviv, Riyadh and Dubai until May 31.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
Malaysia Airlines has suspended flights to Doha until June 14.
NORWEGIAN AIR
Norwegian Air has postponed the planned start dates for its Tel Aviv and Beirut services to June 15.
PEGASUS
Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines has cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah until June 1.
QANTAS
Qantas is adding capacity to several European routes to meet increased demand. Its flights to Paris will rise to five return trips 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 resumed flights to Dubai and Sharjah from April 23 and plans to restart daily flights to Damascus from May 1.
ROYAL AIR MAROC
Royal Air Maroc has cancelled flights to Doha until June 30 and suspended flights to Dubai until May 31.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES
Singapore Airlines has extended the suspension of its Singapore-Dubai service until May 31. To cater for higher demand, it is adding services on the Singapore-London Gatwick and Singapore-Melbourne routes from late March until October 24.
TURKISH AIRLINES
SunExpress, the joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, has cancelled flights to Dubai until April 30.
WIZZ AIR
Wizz Air has delayed the resumption 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.
The disruption remains fluid as carriers continue to update schedules, reinstate some routes and maintain suspensions on others. The list above reflects carrier statements and schedule notices published as they were reported.