British Airways has announced a significant extension to its suspension of flights to multiple Middle Eastern destinations, with cancellations now set to continue until June. The decision comes amid ongoing regional instability and widespread airspace closures that have severely disrupted global aviation.
Extended Cancellations Across Key Routes
While revealing two new winter 2026 destinations on Monday, Britain's flag carrier confirmed it would be extending flight cancellations to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai, and Tel Aviv through to 31 May. Additionally, services to Doha in Qatar have been scrapped until 30 April.
"Due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability, and to provide more clarity to our customers, we've extended the temporary reduction in our flying schedule in the region," stated the airline. "We're keeping the situation under constant review and are directly in touch with affected customers to offer them a range of options."
Global Aviation Disruption
The broader aviation sector continues to face severe disruption following the war in Iran, which forced the closure of critical Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. This has left tens of thousands of passengers stranded worldwide, with numerous airlines implementing extensive cancellations and schedule revisions.
Comprehensive Airline Cancellation Overview
The flight suspensions extend far beyond British Airways, affecting carriers across multiple continents. Below is an alphabetical summary of the latest cancellations from various airlines:
- Aegean Airlines: Greece's largest carrier has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Erbil, and Baghdad until 29 March, with Dubai services suspended until 28 March and Riyadh until 27 March.
- Air Baltic: Latvia's airBaltic has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until 28 March and all Dubai services until 30 March.
- Air Canada: The Canadian carrier has suspended all flights to Tel Aviv until 2 May and all Dubai flights until 28 March.
- Air Europa: The Spanish airline has cancelled all Tel Aviv flights until 20 March.
- Air France KLM: Air France has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai, and Riyadh until 17 March, while KLM has halted services to Riyadh, Dammam, and Dubai until 28 March, with Tel Aviv flights suspended for the remainder of its winter season.
- Air India: Air India and Air India Express temporarily suspended all Dubai operations on 16 March.
- Cathay Pacific: The Hong Kong airline has cancelled all flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until 31 March.
- Delta: The U.S. carrier has cancelled New York to Tel Aviv flights until 31 March and Tel Aviv to New York services until 1 April, with its Atlanta to Tel Aviv route delayed until 4 August.
- El Al Israel Airlines: The Israeli flag carrier's regular flights were cancelled until 21 March.
- Emirates: The UAE airline expects to operate a limited Dubai schedule from 16 March, following a fire caused by a drone near Dubai International Airport that forced flight suspensions.
- Etihad Airways: The UAE carrier has resumed a limited commercial flight schedule between Abu Dhabi and several key destinations.
- Finnair: The Finnish carrier has cancelled Dubai flights until 29 March and Doha flights until 2 April, continuing to avoid the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Israel.
- Flynas: Saudi Arabia's budget airline has extended its suspension of flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and Syria until 31 March.
- IAG: IAG-owned British Airways has cancelled all flights to Abu Dhabi until later this year and all services to Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv until later in March.
- IndiGo: The Indian airline has suspended operations to Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah until 28 March.
- Japan Airlines: Japan Airlines has suspended Tokyo-Doha flights scheduled from 28 February to 31 March and Doha-Tokyo flights until 1 April.
- LOT: The Polish airline has cancelled all Dubai flights until 28 March and Tel Aviv services until 31 March, with Riyadh flights suspended until 24 March and Beirut services cancelled from 31 March to 30 April.
- Lufthansa Group: The German airline group, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and ITA Airways, has suspended flights to Tel Aviv through 2 April, and to Beirut, Dubai, Amman, Erbil, and Abu Dhabi until 28 March, with Tehran services suspended through 30 April.
- Malaysia Airlines: The Malaysian carrier has suspended all Doha flights until 20 March.
- Norwegian Air: The Nordic airline now plans to fly to Tel Aviv and Beirut from 15 June, instead of the previously scheduled 1 April and 4 April respectively.
- Pegasus: Pegasus Airlines has cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah until 31 March, with Riyadh services suspended until 23 March.
- Qatar Airways: The carrier's scheduled operations remain temporarily suspended due to Qatari airspace closure, with a revised limited number of flights planned from 18 to 28 March.
- Turkish Airlines: The Turkish transport ministry announced cancellations to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Dammam until 19 March, with Iran flights cancelled until 20 March.
- Wizz Air: The low-cost airline has suspended flights to Israel until 29 March and to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman, and Jeddah from mainland European destinations until mid-September.
Ongoing Regional Challenges
The extended cancellations reflect the persistent challenges facing aviation in the Middle East, where geopolitical tensions and airspace restrictions continue to create uncertainty for airlines and passengers alike. British Airways and other carriers emphasize they are monitoring the situation closely and maintaining direct communication with affected travelers to provide alternative arrangements.
