More than 11,000 flights canceled amid Middle East travel chaos

2026-03-06 - 11:13

DUBAI — Hundreds of thousands of travelers are stranded in the Middle East after the cancellation of thousands of flights as war rages across the region. European countries are expanding evacuation efforts to bring citizens home as travel disruptions continue amid the widening war involving Iran. The European Commission said at least six repatriation flights supported by the EU have departed the region since Wednesday, returning European citizens to Bulgaria, Italy, Austria, and Slovakia. Additional evacuation flights are planned in the coming days, the Commission said in a statement.The US State Department also said it will increase evacuation flights across the region.Officials said more than 17,500 Americans have returned to the US from the Middle East since February 28. Evacuation flights have departed from regional hubs including Dubai and Jeddah. France, Germany and the Czech Republic are also organizing flights to bring citizens out of the Middle East. The United Kingdom said technical issues delayed its first charter evacuation flight from the Omani capital, Muscat, since the conflict began, but said the aircraft was expected to depart shortly. More than 300,000 British citizens live in or are in transit across the Gulf countries, according to the British foreign secretary. More than 11,000 flights scheduled to depart from major airports in 10 countries have been canceled since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, data from Flightradar24 shows. Flight data paints a stark picture of empty flight paths across the normally busy skies. Several Gulf airports and airlines have completely suspended normal operations. As of March 4, 10 countries had totally or partially closed their airspace since the strikes, according to Flightradar24. Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates — one of the world’s busiest flight hubs connecting 291 destinations — has dropped 87% of its scheduled flights since February 28. In February alone, the airport handled 4.9 million seats, according to the Official Aviation Guide, a reference for air travel data. Flights have been canceled at high rates at other airports in the region, including around 91% of flights from Sharjah, an emirate bordering Dubai, along with 93% from Doha, Qatar. Despite the ongoing uncertainty in the region, some airports began resuming flights on Wednesday, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and King Khalid International inRiyadh. — Agencies