RIYADH: Airlines and airport operators across the Middle East extended flight suspensions for a third consecutive day after US and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered widespread airspace closures, disrupting global travel routes.

Major Gulf hubs halted operations as authorities kept sections of regional airspace closed, forcing carriers to cancel thousands of flights and reroute long-haul services linking Europe, Asia and Australia.  

This comes as flight cancellations affected seven airports across the Middle East on March 1, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Manama in Bahrain.

Dubai-based carrier Emirates said late on March 2 that it would resume a limited number of flights that evening, partially easing an earlier suspension of services.

“We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority, and those who have been rebooked to travel on these limited flights will be contacted directly by Emirates,” the airline said.

It urged passengers not to travel to the airport unless they had been notified. “All other flights remain suspended until further notice,” the statement added.

Earlier, Emirates had suspended all operations to and from Dubai until 3 p.m. UAE time on March 3. The updated statement clarified that while a small number of flights would resume on the evening of March 2, the majority of services would remain suspended.

Hamad International Airport said flights remain suspended and will resume once the Civil Aviation Authority announces the reopening of Qatari airspace. The airport advised passengers not to travel to the airport and to contact their airlines for updates.

Etihad Airways also temporarily suspended its flights to and from Abu Dhabi until 2 p.m. UAE time on March 3.

The closures disrupted key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad — which operate from these hubs — normally handle around 90,000 passengers daily, with even more traveling to other Middle Eastern destinations, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Meanwhile, Iraq extended the closure of its airspace to all arriving, departing and overflying aircraft as regional tensions escalated, in a measure described by aviation authorities as temporary and precautionary amid ongoing conflict-related risks.

Turkiye, on the other hand, has decided to temporarily restrict travelers’ movement across border crossings with Iran, the Qatar News Agency reported.

The disruption has compounded volatility in airline shares amid concerns over higher fuel costs and prolonged operational uncertainty.  

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: “The weekend was marked by tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran, leading to hundreds of explosions targeting broader Middle East countries as well, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.”

She added: “The flare-up was predictable; markets had been preparing for weeks as US warships advanced to the region preceding the explosions.”  

Asian airline shares plunge

Asian airline stocks slid on March 2, with Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, Australia’s Qantas, Singapore Airlines, and Japan Airlines falling more than 5 percent after the escalation disrupted travel flows and heightened concerns over fuel prices, Asharq Bloomberg reported.

Qantas shares dropped as much as 10.4 percent to a 10-month low at the Australian market open before trimming losses to trade down nearly 6 percent.

Other carriers, including Japan Airlines, Air China and Malaysia Airlines, also declined.

Cathay Pacific canceled all flights to the Middle East, including passenger services to Dubai and Riyadh, until further notice.

Singapore Airlines suspended flights to and from Dubai until March 7, while Japan Airlines halted services between Tokyo and Doha for the time being.  

"For (East) Asian carriers, the number of flights they have to the airports that have been shut are rather limited,” said Singapore-based independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie, according to Reuters.

“But of course, you have the potential impact of higher oil prices and the overall political/economic instability globally.”

He added that Indian carriers were particularly exposed due to heavy Middle Eastern schedules serving migrant workers and a ban on using Pakistan's airspace on flights to and from Europe.

Air India cancelled flights on Monday between India and Zurich, Copenhagen and Birmingham, as well as to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar. It said flights to New York and Newark would refuel in Rome.

Flight data provider VariFlight said Chinese airlines have canceled 26.5 percent of their services to and from the Middle East scheduled between March 2 and 8.

The pattern pointed to “sharp near-term disruption but relatively limited revisions further out in the week, suggesting carriers are still holding back from broader schedule resets while monitoring developments,” it said.

Separately, a passenger air terminal in Paphos, Cyprus, was evacuated on March 2 after a suspect object was picked up on radar, the Cyprus state broadcaster reported, according to Reuters.