With the US, Israel-Iran war entering the sixth day, flight operations remain disrupted in the Middle East region due to airspace closure. Several major hubs, including Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, have been witnessing flight cancellations since Feb. 28.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 1,097 civilians, including 181 children, have been killed in Iran since the war began last week. Besides, over 5,400 civilians, including 100 children, have been injured.
The UAE had earlier opened safe air corridors with its neighbours to facilitate the return of its citizens, along with helping visitors leave the country. UAE's Economy and Tourism Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri on Tuesday said the country was capable of operating 48 emergency flights per hour and added that the number of flights could increase gradually based on safety assessments.
Air India, IndiGo status
Air India on Wednesday evening said it was closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Middle East. The airline has started operating a few flights to and from Dubai and Jeddah to bring back stranded passengers.
Also Read | IndiGo Cancels More Than 500 Flights To Middle East In Past 4 Days Amid Widening Crisis
However, it stated that most of its operations to the Middle East "remain suspended till 2359 Hrs IST of Mar. 5, 2026".
The airline has planned to commence its scheduled operations to and from Jeddah from Mar. 5.
Besides this, the airline also plans to operate an additional service on Mar. 5 on the Mumbai-Dubai-Delhi route with a B777 aircraft with larger capacity to fly back stranded passengers.
In its Mar. 4 travel advisory, IndiGo said that its flights announced earlier to Athens, Muscat, Jeddah, and Madinah, along with select repatriation flights to the UAE, have now commenced operations. It added that the airline was gradually restoring connectivity on the impacted routes.
Also Read | Govt Says Airlines To Operate 58 Flights On March 4 As Middle East Disruptions Continue
"Customers are advised to continue monitoring their flight status and stay attentive to updates shared through their registered contact details. If you are scheduled to travel, we kindly request that you wait for confirmation from us before proceeding to the airport," read the post on IndiGo's official X handle.
Further, Akasa Air flights to and from Doha, Kuwait, and Riyadh remain suspended until Mar. 5.
Emirates, Qatar Airways Extend Suspension Of Flight Operations
Emirates has informed that all its scheduled flights to and from Dubai continue to remain suspended until 11:59 p.m. (UAE time) on Mar. 7.
"Emirates continues to operate a limited flight schedule: http://emirat.es/flightstatus. We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority on these limited flights. Customers transiting in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating," it added.
Qatar Airways, meanwhile, said its flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
"Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace. A further update will be provided on March 6 by 09:00 Doha time (06:00 UTC)," it added.
The ongoing airspace closures have also affected the Etihad Airways flight schedules. This has resulted in "the suspension of all flights to and from Abu Dhabi until 06:00 UAE time on Friday, 6 March," the airline said.
Multiple nations, including India and the US, are evacuating their nationals stuck in the Gulf countries.
Around 180 flights were cancelled on Wednesday from three metro airports in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, PTI reported, quoting sources.
Out of these, 93 flights, including 48 departures and 45 arrivals, were cancelled at Mumbai Airport. Delhi Airport saw 52 cancellations that included 25 departures and 27 arrivals on Wednesday.
Airlines operating at Bengaluru airport did not operate 34 flights, including 18 arrivals, according to reports.
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