The war between Iran, the United States and Israel is disrupting international travels, especially in the Gulf region; causing major Gulf carriers like Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad to lose about $200 million daily, according to the latest report by simple.flying, a renowned online aviation magazine.
The magazine reported that thousands of passengers have been stranded, while many are rerouting their flights at huge cost and global air cargo capacity also affected.
On Monday, Emirates issued statement announcing further suspension of flights, saying the suspension of services followed advice issued by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), which grounded all DXB flights, but skeletal services may have resumed the following Tuesday.
Emirates stated that all Emirates flights to and from Dubai remained suspended until further notice.
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It said it was working closely with the relevant authorities to assess the situation and support the safe resumption of operations when possible.
“Customers are reminded not to travel to the airport at this time and to continue checking this page for the latest updates,” said in a statement.
The flights’ suspension came after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, a development that US President Donald Trump described as a “major combat operation”, forcing airlines to reroute services that would normally cross the region.
Reports indicate that the impact of the war and suspension of flights include massive financial losses, severe operational disruptions, as airlines are cancelling flights, rerouting planes to avoid closed airspace, and dealing with crew logistics, leading to higher fuel consumption and technical stops.
There is also global connectivity disruption, which has made significant impacts on travel between Europe, Asia, and North America, with major airlines suspending routes to key hubs like Dubai, Doha, and Kuwait.
The war has started affecting cargo, as reduced capacity is driving up passenger ticket prices and increasing air freight rates, particularly for routes between Asia/Europe and the Middle East, with freight rates up to 84% higher, according to The Loadstar.
The war has also affected tourism and travel dependent economies in the Gulf region and beyond.
In an interview with an American news network, Dubai Airport CEO, Paul Griffiths noted that Dubai Airport (DXB) is one of the world’s busiest hubs for international travel, handling about 100 billion passengers per year under normal circumstances.
He said Dubai Airport is now operating a limited schedule once again, but “it is clearly far from business as usual”.
Asked what the Dubai Airport has been doing to support passengers, Griffiths said, “Well first of all when schedules are disrupted and you know in a normal day we would handle something like 320,000 customers through DXB, so when that supply chain gets interrupted it’s incredibly important that we keep people informed, keep people already at the airport safe and secure whilst we dealt with the backlog and got people to the places they needed to be and also provided the information to make sure that people only came to the airport when they needed to be. That seems to have worked pretty well. The airport has remained calm and composed and the many different comments we are getting from our customers, I think, suggests that for the most part, we’re doing a reasonably good job.”
Reports also showed that more than 2,000 cancelled flights removed critical belly-hold capacity from Asia-Europe-Africa lanes
As of March 2, 2026, airspace closures across Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE resulted in the suspension or restriction of civilian traffic, with over 2,000 flights to and from seven major Gulf airports were cancelled. That sudden drop in scheduled capacity immediately pinched time-sensitive freight, refrigerated shipments and high-value parcels that normally rely on transits through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi.
Guided by the Civil Aviation Authority of each country, some airlines like Qatar Airways, Etihad, Emirates, Oman Air, Gulf Air and Bahrain International Airport announced temporary closure of their airports and grounding of flights.
British Airways had announced it has cancelled flights to and from several destinations in the Middle East until June as war in the region disrupts the global aviation industry.
The airline has cancelled flights to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai, and Tel Aviv through 31 May, it said in a statement shared with AFP on Tuesday.
Flights to Doha have also been suspended until 30 April, with the airline operating a “limited schedule” until 31 May.
“Due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability, we’ve extended the temporary reduction in our flying schedule in the region,” the airline said in a statement.
Routes to Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia will continue to operate, while its flights to Abu Dhabi will resume on October 25, as previously announced.
According to gettransport.com, Middle East airspace closures have reduced global air cargo capacity by roughly 18 per cent, prompting freighters and bellies alike to adjust networks overnight. Carriers that previously routed through Gulf hubs now face lost payload efficiency, new technical-stop patterns, and gaps in established lanes, all of which ripple through scheduling, inventory timing and short-term freight rates.
The blog reported that some operators have chosen to avoid the Gulf entirely, either by switching technical stops to Central Asia or by operating longer direct sectors.
“That pivot has produced a counterintuitive shift: Asia-Europe capacity rose by 22 per cent as airlines reconfigured routings. Still, the regional boost does not fully cover the broader network disruption caused by the closure of central Gulf airspace,” the blog reported
It noted that rerouting affects the whole supply chain: ground haulage to alternative airports, warehousing extensions for delayed transits, and redistribution of crew and maintenance resources. Forwarders may increase buffer stocks or shift to surface options where time allows, driving higher demand for road and sea capacity on certain corridors. In short, an airspace shock tends to leak into haulage, warehousing and last-mile distribution.
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Gettransport.com summarised the situation of Iran crisis induced global flight and cargo movement disruptions, “Three things to keep an eye on: slot availability at alternative stops, spot rate movements on Asia-Europe and transatlantic lanes, and ground-handling throughput in newly utilised hubs. As the dust settles, expect some permanent route realignments — carriers and forwarders that adapt quickly will protect margins and service levels.”
However, almost at the 11th hour, the federal government announced on Wednesday that it has begun arrangements for the evacuation of Nigerian citizens affected by the worsening security situation across parts of the Middle East, following a surge in military hostilities involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said administrative processes and funding approvals are currently being finalised to enable the evacuation exercise, as concerns mount over the safety of Nigerians stranded in several countries across the region.
But while the Gulf crisis has stymied Middle East airlines operations, African carriers seemed to be having a field day, as Ethiopian, Kenya Airways and Rwand Air now attract more passengers, including premium passengers that hitherto patronised the Gulf Carriers.
