Thousands of flights cancelled amid Iran conflict

Global air travel remains severely disrupted as war in Iran keeps major airports in the Middle East, including Dubai, the world’s busiest international hub, closed for a second day in one of the sharpest aviation shocks in recent years.

Major transit airports, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar, have been closed or severely restricted as much of the region’s airspace remains closed following the US and Israel’s killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The effects of the surge were felt far beyond the Middle East; tens of thousands of passengers were stranded as far as Bali, Kathmandu and Frankfurt.

While Israel announced that it launched a new wave of attacks against Iran on Sunday, loud explosions were heard near Dubai and over Doha for the second day after Iran launched retaliatory air strikes on neighboring Gulf countries.

While Dubai International Airport was damaged in Iran’s attacks, airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit.

According to data from flight tracking platform FlightAware, thousands of flights were affected in the Middle East.

Emirates, the world’s largest international carrier, said it was suspending all operations to and from its Dubai mega hub until Monday.

Qatar Airways, which has suspended all its operations, said it would give a new update on Monday, and Germany’s Lufthansa extended the suspension of flights to the region until March 8.

Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar remained almost empty, according to maps prepared by Flightradar24 on Sunday.

The flight tracking service said a new pilot bulletin had extended the closure of Iranian airspace until at least Tuesday morning, but regional airline sources said it was unclear how long conflict-related turmoil would last.

Analysts said the region and airlines had become accustomed to travel disruptions over the past few years, but such a prolonged closure of the skies – more than 24 hours – and the closure of three major transit hubs in the Gulf was unprecedented.

The Gulf is also a key crossroads for air cargo transport, putting further pressure on trade routes alongside maritime disruption.

Airline executives said crews and pilots are now dispersed around the world, complicating the complex process of resuming flights when airspace reopens.

Carriers around the world are also facing higher oil prices after Brent crude rose 10 per cent to US$80 ($A113) per barrel on Sunday. Analysts predict these prices could rise as high as US$100 ($A141).

At Frankfurt airport on Sunday morning, Lara Haenseler, who was heading to Australia from Bochum, Germany, was trying to rebook her flight to Dubai after it was cancelled.

“The phone line is completely full. We can’t reach anyone,” he said.

In Bali, Indonesia, long queues formed at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport as passengers waited to speak to airline staff.

While travelers sat on their luggage to learn details of their flights at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, departure boards at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport displayed a long list of canceled flights.

Analytics firm Cirium said about 4,000 flights would land in the region on Sunday. The UAE’s civil aviation authority said it assisted about 20,200 passengers on Saturday.

Dubai and its neighbor Doha sit at the crossroads of east-west air travel, routing long-haul traffic between Europe and Asia through tightly scheduled connecting flight networks. While these hubs were idle, planes and crews were left out of position, disrupting airline schedules around the world.

“This is due to the sheer number of people and the complexity,” said John Strickland, a UK-based aviation analyst.

“It’s not just the customers, it’s the crews and planes everywhere.”

Airlines in Europe, Asia and the Middle East have canceled or rerouted flights to avoid closed or restricted airspace, lengthening trips and increasing fuel costs.

The disruption was further compounded by the loss of flight routes to Iran and Iraq, which have become even more important since the Russia-Ukraine war forced airlines to avoid the airspace of both countries.