Air travel chaos escalates as airports remain closed and flights canceled amid Iran war

Air travel chaos intensified on Monday when war with iran It lasted into the third day, keeping airspace and airports in the Middle East closed and leaving travelers stranded.

Tourists, business travelers and religious pilgrims found themselves unexpectedly stuck in hotels, airports and cruise ships, not knowing when many airports would reopen or when flights to and through the Middle East would resume.

Among the many stranded people were more than 58,000 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia who had been visiting the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina during Ramadan. In addition, some 30,000 German tourists were stranded on cruise ships, hotels or closed airports.

Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha – major hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and the West to Asia – remained closed after they were all directly affected by the Iranian attacks.

However, the government of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, said on Monday that its two main airports would reopen later in the day for “limited” flights, several days after both facilities were closed due to US and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory missile and drone fire from Iran.

“Dubai Airports announces a limited resumption of flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) starting this afternoon,” the Dubai government said in X.

“Dubai Airports urged passengers not to go to the airport unless they have been contacted by the relevant airline to confirm their flight departure time,” the administration said.

Dubai International Airport is the world’s busiest commercial aviation hub by passenger volume, with some 95.2 million people traveling through the airport last year, according to Dubai Airports.

Emirates, based at Dubai International Airport, said it will resume operations with a “limited number of flights” on Monday evening, without providing further details. It had previously said it would suspend flights until 3 pm local time on Tuesday.

“We are serving customers with earlier bookings as a priority,” he said, advising people not to go to the airport unless they are notified.

Doha-based Qatar Airways said on Monday that its flights remained suspended and its next update was scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Air France canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh, while airlines from Air India to KLM suspended flights and issued advisories.

Airspace over several countries in the region was closed. Jordanian authorities announced Monday that their airspace would be closed later “until further notice, to ensure the safety of civil aviation in Jordanian airspace,” according to the country’s official news agency.

The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said Monday that the complete closure of the country’s airspace to civilian traffic would be extended for at least 48 hours due to “current security concerns in the region.”

Some governments were scrambling to help their citizens return home after conflict broke out on Saturday with Israel and the United States bombing Iran.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Britain was setting up support systems to help citizens flee the Gulf region, home to about 300,000 Britons.

“We are looking at a wide range of options, working, crucially, with the travel industry and with the government evacuation if necessary,” Cooper told British channel Sky News.

Asked by Sky if the UK could organize government evacuations from some countries, Cooper said: “We are working on all possible options.”

“We have to also recognize the magnitude of this, and also the fact that there are still strikes going on,” he said.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said late Sunday that a military evacuation was not possible due to the closure of airspace and that the government was studying other options to help bring citizens home. He said everyone should follow the advice of German travel agencies and local authorities.

The German Travel Association asked tourists to “urgently stay in the reserved hotels” and not “go on their own to the airport or to a neighboring country.”

Other governments made similar recommendations.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel said in a security alert on Sunday that it ordered all U.S. government employees and their families to shelter in place in and near their residences until further notice.

He said the embassy would be closed on Monday and was not in a position to evacuate or directly help Americans leave Israel.

President Trump said Sunday that the joint operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved,” which he said could last up to four weeks. at least four american service members have been killed, according to the US military.