Travelers are in limbo as airport departure boards flip to red after air strikes in Iran resulted in closed airspace and triggered mass flight cancellations.
The heart of the chaos is in the Middle East, where airports in Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi serve as megahubs for global connecting traffic. Data from the aviation analytics firm Cirium shows their home airlines — Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways — carry a combined 90,000 transit passengers a day.
That figure does not include the thousands of travelers whose final destination is the Middle East.
Emirates passenger Jaiveer Cheema, who was set to fly back home to the US on Saturday, told Business Insider that he was stuck on his plane for five hours with no food before everyone was deplaned and shuffled into the crowded terminal at Dubai International.
“The next several hours at the airport were chaos as no one knew what to do,” he said. “We spoke to several security guards and Emirates employees, and they all gave us different answers.”
Cheema said they stood in line after line until they eventually got a hotel voucher and took a bus to the lodging. He was still waiting for a room 90 minutes after arriving — it’s after midnight in Dubai; nearly 20 hours after he initially showed up for his 9 a.m. flight.
While many passengers are stranded within the region’s closed airspace, shuttered until further notice, the disruption has rippled far beyond it.
Flights to the affected region from places like London and the US have been canceled outright or diverted mid-journey — leaving travelers far from home in crowded airport terminals and uncertain when they will be able to depart.
Airlines have told passengers on social media to expect long wait times at airports and on customer-service phone lines as they try to manage the abrupt disruptions.
The sheer number of displaced people and planes on Saturday alone is expected to snowball worldwide if airports are unable to restart operations soon.
Passengers in Dubai were funneled into long snaking lines.
Cheema spent hours in line but managed to secure a hotel voucher — though he had yet to secure a room when talking with Business Insider. He said he did not have answers from Emirates on what’s next.
An Emirates spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Passengers at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport in Lebanon are stranded.
Airlines are pivoting their operations in response to the strikes. Lufthansa Group said it is suspending flights to Beirut, Tel Aviv, Amman, Erbil, and Tehran until March 7.
Airlines are suspending flights across the region, including Lebanon.
In a statement shared on the Lufthansa Group’s website, the company said it would also suspend flights in additional areas.
“The following airspaces will also not be used until March 7: Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, and Iran,” the aviation corporation said. “In addition, Lufthansa Group airlines will suspend flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Riad, and Dammam until March 1. Furthermore, the airspace of the United Arab Emirates will not be used until March 1.”
International flights at Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal were disrupted.
The Tribhuvan International Airport shared a passenger advisory on Saturday, saying international flights “may be subject to delay, rescheduling, or cancellations” due to airspace restrictions.
Passengers flying with major airlines were told to check their flight status.
The Tribhuvan International Airport told passengers flying with major airlines — including Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines — to coordinate with those companies to navigate travel issues.
Qatar’s airspace closure caused flight disruptions at Hamad International Airport.
Qatar’s Hamad International Airport said all aircraft movement has been temporarily suspended due to the country’s closed airspace.
“Our priority is always the safety of our passengers and employees. We are working closely with government stakeholders and airline partners to look after passengers that have been impacted,” the airport wrote in an advisory.
In London, flights to the countries Middle East were canceled.
Flights heading to the Middle East were also canceled at the London Gatwick Airport in England on Saturday.
London Gatwick Airport told some passengers to expect travel interruptions.
A London Gatwick Airport spokesperson told Sky News it’s “expecting disruption to our Qatar and Emirates flights.”
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