After the US and Israel attacked Iran, airlines are still cancelling and rerouting flights to the Middle East region.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are two airlines that have stopped flying to the area. All flights to and from Dubai International and Al Maktoum International airports in Dubai are also on hold.
Because airspace is still closed or limited, the disruption has affected other long-haul travel. Heathrow has told travellers to check with their airline before they leave.
Iran attacked back, hitting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among other places. The UK Foreign Office has told British citizens to stay where they are.
Keep an eye on this story for updates.
What we know about the attack on Iran by the US and Israel together
There have been 11 injuries and one death at airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Four of the injuries were to staff members at Dubai International.
Due to airspace closures across the region, Emirates has stopped all of its flights to and from Dubai until 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Sunday. Etihad has also stopped flights out of Abu Dhabi until 14:00 local time.
British Airways has stopped flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until Wednesday.
It said that services between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, or Tel Aviv could be affected for a few days.
Sarah Short was supposed to fly back from Dubai to Heathrow.”We got on the plane and were literally about to taxi when the pilot said, ‘We have some bad news— we’re not going anywhere,'” she told the BBC. “We then sat on the ground for more than three hours.”
On Sunday morning, airspace over Iran, Israel, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria, and the UAE is still closed. In Saudi Arabia, it is only partially closed. Jordanian and Lebanese airspace is still open, but there aren’t many flights going on.
Virgin Atlantic said on Sunday that it was stopping flights between Heathrow and Riyadh. This came after the airline had already cancelled flights between Heathrow and Dubai on Saturday and Sunday.
Flights to India, Saudi Arabia, and the Maldives may take longer because they have to go around the area that is affected, the company said.
Virgin is one of the airlines in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that have had to cancel or change flights to avoid airspace that is closed or limited.
Tracking shows that flights between Europe and Asia go through Saudi Arabia or the Caucasus.
Emma Belcher and her husband Vic were on their way back to Heathrow from a vacation in the Maldives through Dubai when their connecting flight was cancelled.”We have no idea when they might open the airspace, so we don’t know how long we’ll be here,” she said.We were really excited to get home and see the kids because we had never been away from them before.
Reuters: There are long lines at Delhi airport because of delays and cancellations.Reuters
Flights that would have gone over the area that was affected have been rerouted, which has caused delays.
Because Qatari airspace was closed, Qatar Airways said that flights to and from the capital, Doha, would be temporarily stopped. They said that operations would start again at 19:00 local time on Sunday (16:00 GMT).
John Henry, 71, from Northampton, was on vacation in Qatar and was at a shopping center when they got an air raid alert on Saturday.”We heard a thud and felt a tremor, and we saw a lot of people quickly leaving the shopping center,” he told the BBC.
The defence ministry of Qatar said it had stopped Iranian missiles after explosions were heard in Doha.
Because of the disruption:
- Greece’s biggest airline, Aegean Airlines, stopped flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, and Erbil until Monday.
- Air Astana has cancelled all flights to the Middle East until the end of Tuesday. Air Canada has cancelled flights to Dubai until Tuesday and to Israel until next Sunday. Spanish airline Air Europa has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until at least Monday.
- Air India has cancelled flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and Amritsar to many places, such as London, New York, and Paris.
- Azerbaijan Airlines has stopped flying to and from Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, and Tel Aviv.
- FlyDubai stopped flying to and from Dubai until 15:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Sunday. Indian airline Indigo has cancelled dozens of flights until Tuesday because of the airspace restrictions.
- ITA Airways stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv and said it would stay out of Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi, and Iranian airspace until next Saturday. KLM stopped flying to Dubai, Dammam, and Riyadh, and LOT stopped flying to Tel Aviv until March 15 and cancelled flights to Dubai and Riyadh until Monday.
- Lufthansa has stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, and Oman until next Saturday. Norwegian Air has stopped all flights to Dubai until Wednesday.
- On Sunday, Pegasus Airlines stopped all flights to Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon.
- On Sunday, Turkish Airlines cancelled flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan.
- Wizz Air has stopped all flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Amman until and including next Saturday.
The UAE also said it had stopped Iranian missiles and drones, and video seems to show the moment a US base in Bahrain was hit.
Kuwait said that Iranian missiles and drones had hit its country. People heard explosions at Erbil airport in Iraq early on Sunday morning.
The UK Foreign Office says that “all travel to Israel and Palestine” is not safe.
People from the UK who are in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE have been told to stay where they are right away. People from the UK who are in Saudi Arabia have been told to “stay indoors in a safe place.”
People from the UK who are in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, and Oman have also been told to “stay alert” and find shelter if they are told to do so.
The Foreign Office said that British citizens in Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, and the UAE could sign up to get direct updates on the situation.
