Emirates, Etihad Restart Some Flights Amid Iranian Strikes

Emirates will start evacuating passengers on Monday night, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the move hasn’t been publicly announced. While all scheduled flights remain canceled, Etihad will conduct some repositioning, cargo and repatriation flights “in coordination with UAE authorities and subject to strict operational and safety approvals,” the airline said in a statement.
The flight chaos across most of the Persian Gulf have become the most significant since the coronavirus pandemic, leaving tens of thousands of people in places like Dubai and Qatar stranded. Flying remains risky given the continued barrage of missiles and drones from Iran, and the added confusion of warfare that led to the inadvertent downing of three US fighter jets in Kuwait on Monday.
Several Etihad-operated special-service flights took off from Abu Dhabi International Airport on Monday, according to the airport’s website and FlightRadar24 data. That facility was among sites damaged in the barrage of drones and missiles sent by Iran this weekend. The incident resulted in one death and several injuries.
Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, halted regular operations to and from Dubai until 3 pm local time on Tuesday and warned of disruptions through Thursday. Etihad Airways said it extended cancellations until 3 pm Tuesday, while Qatar Airways said flights to and from Doha were suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
Those stuck in the UAE are still looking to leave, whether on boats to Mumbai or by land to Oman. The UK said earlier on Monday that it’s looking at all options to evacuate about 300,000 British nationals currently in the region.
Saudi has closed some parts of it airspace as Iran attacked several sites in the kingdom. Jordan also restricted its airspace today.
The disruptions have reached as far as Cyprus after a drone hit a UK base there, prompting EasyJet Plc and Deutsche Lufthansa AG to cancel flights to the Mediterranean island. The impact of flight disruptions has rippled across Asia, with Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. canceling some services to the Middle East through March 5. In India, IndiGo’s flight suspensions extended through Tuesday.
In Europe, shares of the major airlines slumped amid concern that the conflict will deter travel just as the industry heads into the crucial summer period. Lufthansa dropped as much as 11%, British-Airways parent IAG SA fell as much as 13% and Air France-KLM declined 10% in early European trading.
The conflict is also causing the price of oil to spike, in turn increasing the cost of fuel for airlines, their single-biggest expense. And the closed airspace means that many aircraft will need to take longer flight paths, again driving up their operating costs.
US President Donald Trump said the bombing campaign against Iran would continue until its objectives were achieved, sending airline stocks plunging as investors digested the impact of axed flights, airspace closures and lengthy travel disruptions.
Cathay fell as much as 7% at the open in Hong Kong, while Singapore Airlines Ltd. dropped as much as 7.5%. Qantas Airways Ltd. lost as much as 10%.
The United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation authority said it tended to more than 20,000 affected passengers caught up in the disruption. Tens of thousands of people have been stranded in a region that functions as a global superconnector, linking any two points on the planet with one single stop.

Several airports in the Gulf were hit in the crossfire as Iran sent missiles and drones across the region in response to the initial attack on Saturday by Israeli and US aerial forces.
Abu Dhabi Airport said that one person died and several were injured overnight after the emirate intercepted an Iranian drone. Dubai’s main airport, the world’s busiest international hub, reported damage to a concourse that injured four staff members.

Bahrain’s main airport was targeted by a drone overnight that left damage. Kuwait’s airport was also struck by a drone and a number of employees sustained minor injuries.
Though the Persian Gulf has become accustomed to disruptions as the skies over large swaths of the Middle East suffered restrictions several times during the past two years, an outright suspension on such a massive scale is unprecedented. The situation highlights the stakes in the conflict that’s pitting Iran against Israel and the US and has destabilized the energy-rich region.
The extensive suspension of all air services will severely disrupt the finely-tuned choreography of global aircraft movements. Already, many planes and crew are out of position because of the airspace closure, meaning that it will likely take days to work through the backlog even once operations resume.
Elsewhere, India’s civil aviation authority said that local carriers canceled 410 flights on Saturday and 444 are expected to be canceled on Sunday. Airlines around the world, from Canada to Europe to Singapore, all said that they’ve suspended their services to the Middle East.
Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad have spent decades building up massive fleets that funnel passengers through their hubs, turning the Middle East into a vital artery for global air-traffic flows. The airlines have become a main driver for growth in the Gulf, as they shift from being transfer facilitators to bringing business and tourism into the region.