Widespread Flight Cancellations in Middle East
The majority of flights to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been cancelled for Monday as strikes persist in the joint Israeli and US military actions targeting Iran.
According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, more than 4,000 flights daily have been cancelled across the region, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
"The disruption will only increase the longer the crisis continues and it will have enormous repercussions for the industry," said Ian Petchenik, director of communications at Flightradar24.
The ongoing airline disruptions coincide with over 100,000 Britons registering their presence in the Middle East with the UK government.
On Monday, aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that 79% of global flights to Qatar and 71% of flights to the United Arab Emirates were cancelled. Additionally, 81% of flights to Israel and 92% of flights to Bahrain were grounded.
Qatar Airways, the national airline of Qatar, announced that its flight operations remain temporarily suspended on Monday due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
"Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace," the airline stated on X.
From the United Kingdom, numerous flights to Middle Eastern destinations have also been cancelled, including all flights to Israel and Bahrain, approximately three quarters of the scheduled flights to the United Arab Emirates, and over two thirds (69%) of flights to Qatar.
Despite widespread cancellations, some flights have still departed from these destinations. For example, FlightRadar24 reported that an Etihad flight to London departed from Abu Dhabi on Monday morning.
Passenger Experiences Amid Disruptions
Ian Scott, from Wedmore in Somerset, shared his experience with BBC Your Voice. He was travelling from Melbourne to Venice when his Saturday morning flight departing Doha was forced to turn back mid-air due to the escalating conflict.
"We were in airport for 15 hours before evacuation to a hotel. That was full and we had to shelter underground due to close explosions," he recounted.
Since then, Scott reported hearing blasts in the area and remains awaiting an opportunity to leave.
Government and Industry Responses
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described the situation as "deeply stressful" for those affected. She noted that many stranded individuals were travelling for holiday or business purposes.
When asked about the possibility of a government-led evacuation, Cooper stated that officials are maintaining close contact with airlines, airports, Middle Eastern governments, and the travel industry.
"In previous situations similar to this, the government had worked with airlines to bring people home on normal flights," she added.
Paul Charles, from travel consultancy firm the PC Agency, highlighted the global impact of the Middle East air travel disruptions.
"Indeed at Sao Paolo airport yesterday I saw two Qatar Airways planes still on the ground there because they can't fly to the Middle East at the moment," he said.
"Flights are entirely full via other countries because the passengers who were due to go to the Middle East have to reroute via somewhere else in order to find safe haven."
Additional reporting was provided by Bernadette McCague.
