Several international airlines cautiously resumed a small number of flights from the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Tuesday, offering some relief for travellers caught up in Middle East airspace closures due to the conflict between the US-Israel and Iran.

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Long-haul carriers Etihad Airways and Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and budget carrier Flydubai, said they would operate select flights from the country, where air traffic was suspended on Saturday.

Dubai’s government told passengers to head to airports only if they were contacted directly during what it said would be a “limited resumption of operations”. More than 80% of the flights scheduled to and from Dubai and more than half of the flights to and from Abu Dhabi remained cancelled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

While some repatriation flights have managed to depart the UAE, the vast majority remain cancelled. Posting on X on Tuesday, Flightradar24 said cancellations across seven major Middle East airports – Dubai International, Hamad International Airport in Doha, Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah International Airport, Kuwait International Airport, Bahrain International Airport, and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International – have now exceeded 12,300 flights from 28 February until 3 March.

First Etihad and Emirates planes take off

At least 15 Etihad flights took off from Abu Dhabi’s airport on Monday to help evacuate passengers who have been stranded there, according to aviation portal Flightradar24. The flights headed to a variety of destinations, including Islamabad, Paris, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Cairo and London Heathrow. But regular commercial flights remained cancelled.

“Some repositioning, cargo and repatriation flights may operate in coordination with UAE authorities and subject to strict operational and safety approvals,” Etihad said on social media. The airline confirmed that scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain suspended until 2 pm local time on Thusday 5 March. “Access to the airport will be restricted for those without confirmed travel documentation.”

Emirates began operating a limited number of passenger repatriation and freighter flights on Monday and Tuesday. But on social media the airline said that all scheduled flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 11:59 pm UAE time (8:59 pm CET) on 4 March, due to airspace closures across the region.

“We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority on these limited flights. Please do not go to the airport unless you have been notified directly by Emirates, or hold a confirmed booking for these flights.”

Dubai Airports confirmed a resumption of operations with a small number of flights permitted to operate from Dubai International and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International.

Emirates flight UAE500 to Mumbai took off from Dubai at 6:15 pm CET on Monday followed by Emirates flight UAE542 to Chennai, as monitored by Euronews journalists on Flightradar24.

While the Emirates flights were taking off, two Flydubai flights were approaching Dubai airport and went into a holding pattern, circling over the Gulf. At the same time, two Etihad flights were approaching Abu Dhabi to land after a number of flights took off from the airport on Monday afternoon, for the first time since the outbreak of the Iran war.

When Emirates flight UAE500 took off from Dubai International on Monday, it was tracked by more than 138,000 people on Flightradar24. “This is Emirates’ first departure from Dubai since 12:19 local time on 28 February,” the site said.

On Tuesday morning, five Emirates A380 aircraft departed Dubai – bound for Jeddah, Manchester, Paris, London, and Frankfurt.

In a statement, Flydubai said it would operate four flights departing the city and another five arriving planes on Monday. “We continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to ensure an efficient, gradual return to operations,” it said. “The situation remains dynamic, and we continue to monitor closely and amend our schedule accordingly.”

With air travel severely limited throughout the Middle East, the conflict that started on Saturday stranded hundreds of thousands of travellers in multiple countries. Tourists, business travellers and religious pilgrims found themselves stuck unexpectedly in hotels, airports and on cruise ships.

Dubai International Airport, Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, and Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, are important hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and Asia. The three airports were all directly hit by Iranian strikes over the weekend. Along with people planning to head to or from the region, travellers who were passing through on multi-leg flights also found themselves stuck.

All aircraft movements at Hamad International Airport remain suspended due to the temporary closure of the Qatari airspace. The country’s flag carrier, Qatar Airways, will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace. The airline said a further update will be provided on Wednesday by 9 am local time (7 am CET).

In a press conference on Tuesday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr Majed Al-Ansari told journalists that nearly 8,000 transit passengers are stranded in the country due to the airspace closure.

Some social media users had reported that Pakistan’s airspace had been “partially closed” due to the conflict. However, the Pakistan Airports Authority clarified on X that it remains “fully open & safe for all civil flights” and there are “no restrictions on commercial operations, arrivals, departures, or overflights across Pakistan”.

Which airlines are affected?

Air Arabia flights to and from the UAE are temporarily suspended until 3 pm local time on 4 March. Flights to Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq are suspended until 5 March. The airline said that a “limited number of flights may operate in coordination with the relevant authorities”, subject to operational and safety approvals. “Passengers scheduled on operating flights will be notified directly.”

Due to ongoing regional airspace closures, Oman Air said that flights to and from Amman, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Kuwait, Copenhagen, Baghdad, and Khasab had been cancelled until Friday 6 March.

Gulf Air flights remain temporarily suspended as closure of Bahrain airspace continues. The airline will give its next update at 11 am local time on 4 March.

Saudia has also cancelled flights to and from Amman, Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Moscow and Peshawar until 11:59 pm local time (9:59 pm CET) on 4 March.

On Tuesday, Indian airlines said they were resuming limited commercial services to the Middle East in a bid to collect thousands of passengers stranded by war. Millions of South Asian citizens live and work across the Middle East. IndiGo said it would operate four return flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to “progressively normalise” operations between the countries.

Air India Express said it would resume flights to and from the Omani capital Muscat from Tuesday. But services to and from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain suspended, the airlines said in a statement. Budget carrier Akasa Air said it would operate select flights to Jeddah.

Low-cost carrier Wizz Air has suspended all flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman and Saudi Arabia up to and including 7 March.

Turkish Airlines has cancelled flights to and from Bahrain, Dammam and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria and the UAE.

Air France has cancelled its scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh until 5 March.

Dutch airline KLM is currently not flying through the airspace of Iran, Iraq, and Israel, nor over several countries in the Gulf region. Flights to, from, or via destinations in the region are cancelled or adjusted. KLM’s Tel Aviv flights are suspended for the remainder of its winter season operations; flights to and from Dubai are suspended until 5 March; and flights to and from Damman and Riyadh are also suspended until 5 March.

British Airways is not flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until 4 March, while a number of flights to the Middle East have also been cancelled. The airline said if passengers are due to fly between London Heathrow and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai or Tel Aviv up to and including 15 March, they can change their flight free of charge to travel on or before 29 March. Customers travelling up to and including 8 March may also request a full refund.

Lufthansa Group airlines – which includes Lufthansa, SWISS International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, and Eurowings – has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, Dammam, and Tehran until 8 March. In addition, Lufthansa Group airlines also suspend flights to and from Dubai until 4 March.

Finnair has suspended daily flights to Dubai and Doha until 6 March, while Norwegian is suspending its flights to and from Dubai up until and including 4 March. “We will then assess if it’s possible to resume flights,” said the budget carrier.

Delta Air Lines has cancelled flights from New York to Tel Aviv until 8 March, while American Airlines’s Doha-Philadelphia flights are “temporarily suspended”.

Air Canada has said that all flights to and from Dubai and Tel Aviv are currently suspended and restarting on 23 March.

Air India has extended the suspension of all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Qatar until 11:59 pm local time (7:29 pm CET) on 2 March 2026.

Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia’s flag carrier, temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha “until further notice”, the company said in a statement on Sunday.