A small number of commercial flights resumed on Monday at major Persian Gulf hubs, but hundreds of thousands of passengers remain stuck after a wave of suspensions prompted by strikes and security concerns.
Several carriers based in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha grounded or sharply reduced services over safety fears following recent strikes involving the U.S. and Israel and retaliatory actions in the region. Planes sat idle at airports across the Gulf as airlines paused schedules while authorities assessed risks.
Passengers who had planned onward travel found themselves staying in hotels or sleeping in terminals, uncertain when routes would reopen. Kristy Ellmer of Portsmouth, N.H., who arrived in Dubai for work last week, described repeated cancellations: flights booked for several days were called off and she is hoping an upcoming departure will hold. Many travelers are making contingency plans as airlines update timetables day by day.
Emirates said it would operate a limited set of flights beginning Monday evening, giving priority to passengers with earlier reservations, but warned most services remain suspended until conditions are clarified. Etihad and other carriers also began limited operations out of Abu Dhabi, while Doha’s main airport announced operations remain temporarily suspended.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 recorded more than 3,400 cancellations in the Middle East on Monday alone, putting the tally since the conflict escalated at nearly 10,000. Over several days, cancellations at seven major airports — including DXB (Dubai), DOH (Doha), AUH (Abu Dhabi), SHJ, KWI, BAH and DWC — exceeded roughly 9,500 flights, the tracker reported.
Dubai International, one of the world’s busiest transfer hubs, restarted with only a handful of departures Monday evening after days of closure. The airport had been shut when social media footage showed travelers evacuating down smoke-filled corridors following a suspected drone strike. Abu Dhabi’s airport announced partial operations and saw some early departures; Doha’s hub said it was still suspended.
Analysts say the disruption has wide reach because Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are key transfer points between Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, estimates roughly 90,000 passengers pass through those hubs daily on just three carriers — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways — underscoring the scale of the disruption if schedules remain curtailed.
Airspace and airports across the region were closed over the weekend, and further cancellations are likely as strikes and counter-strikes continue to unfold. Stranded travelers are coping in various ways — some trying to reschedule, others waiting it out in hotels. Ellmer said keeping perspective has helped her remain calm, noting the difficult circumstances faced by people directly affected by the fighting and that she and others have been accommodated by hotels while they wait.