Hundreds of thousands are stranded as war shuts down air traffic in the Middle East
Hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers tried new connections and transferred to overcrowded flights on Sunday after attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel closed much of the Middle East to air travel.
Tourists and business travelers are crammed into hotels and airports, with no word on when most airports will reopen or when flights to and from the Middle East will resume. Some governments have advised their needy citizens to seek shelter.
The closed airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha – including Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world – are important hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and the West to Asia. All three were directly hit by the strikes.
Mohammad Abdul Mannan, in the crowd at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said he is not worried about the war but needs to get his flight to the Middle East to make a living.
“We have started going to work, we have to go,” he said. “My only concern is how I will go abroad and how I can get money.”
Confusion reigns for many travelers as they try to get answers from online portals or through busy phone lines.
In Dubai, stranded travelers heard warplanes overhead and explosions when the Fairmont Palm hotel was hit by a missile strike.
Many were unable to get new flight information from travel providers or Dubai-based Emirates, which suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon.
Louise Herrle and her husband had their flight to Washington canceled as they returned to their home in Pittsburgh after visiting Dubai and Abu Dhabi, without saying when they might reschedule.
“We’re in a hotel room, we’re not leaving it, so you’re not going to leave it until we know we’ve got a flight out of here,” Herrle said. “I’m sure everyone is in the same situation.”
Flights are cancelled, airports and airports are closed
Cirium, an airline analytics company, said it is difficult to calculate the number of stranded travelers around the world.
However, it is estimated that at least 90,000 people change flights every day at the airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi on just three airlines: Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.
Airspace or airports in Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have been closed, according to air traffic control and government agencies there.
More than 2,800 flights were canceled Sunday to and from airports across the Middle East, including those that remain open in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, according to statistics from flight tracking site FlightAware. International airports in London, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangkok, Istanbul, Sri Lanka and Paris each reported a number of canceled flights.
The cancellation will extend beyond Sunday, at least.
Emirates has suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon. Air India has suspended all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar until Tuesday. Israel’s El Al airline said it was preparing to fly home Israelis stranded abroad when it reopened, and closed air ticket sales on March 21 to ensure stranded customers get priority.
The Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that Iran launched 541 bombers at the UAE, and 506 were intercepted. The remaining 35 attacked several locations, including Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah Fairmont Hotel and Dubai International Airport. The debris that fell on these roads killed three people and injured 58.
Two airports in the United Arab Emirates reported strikes as the government there condemned what it called a “green attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Saturday.
Dubai International Airport officials said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said one person died and seven others were injured in the drone strike. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.
Iran has not publicly claimed responsibility.
Flight disruptions are likely to continue
Airlines have urged passengers to check their flight status online before heading to the airport. Some airlines have issued waivers to affected travelers that will allow them to rebook their flight plans without paying additional fees or higher fares. Some have offered full refunds.
“For travelers, there’s no way to wear this,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of the Atmosphere Research Group. “You have to prepare for delays or cancellations over the next few days as this attack unfolds and hopefully ends.”
Mike McCormick, who used to oversee the US Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control, said that countries may reopen their airspace if US and Israeli officials tell the airlines where the military planes are operating and how Iran can continue to fire missiles.
Airlines rerouting flights to avoid conflict zones
The updates were heard outside the Middle East – for example, aviation authorities on the resort island of Bali in Indonesia said more than 1,600 tourists were stranded at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Sunday after five flights to the Middle East were canceled or delayed.
Airlines crossing the Middle East will have to reroute flights around the conflict, with many flights heading south over Saudi Arabia. That will cause delays and higher costs.
Kristy Ellmer, an American who had business meetings in Dubai, said she was staying in a hotel and keeping several flights booked in case the airports reopened. He said he is starting to trust the government’s ability to protect the city from missiles being fired, but he did not enter the windows when he heard explosions.
“You hear a lot of explosions sometimes, hundreds,” Ellmer said. So when we hear, we just don’t stay near the windows just in case the glass breaks or there’s some impact.”
