The skies over the Middle East ground to a halt on Saturday February 28, 2026, as the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against Iran, triggering a wave of airspace closures and flight cancellations that has thrown one of the world’s busiest aviation corridors into chaos.
The US military named its campaign “Operation Epic Fury.” President Donald Trump confirmed in a statement posted on Truth Social, describing it as a massive and ongoing operation. Iran, which had been engaged in nuclear negotiations with Washington right up until the moment the bombs fell, responded immediately with retaliatory ballistic missile strikes targeting US military bases across the Gulf, hitting countries including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
The consequences for air travel were immediate and severe.
Emirates, Dubai’s flagship carrier and one of the world’s largest airlines, confirmed that all flights to and from Dubai have been suspended until at least 11pm local time on Saturday, citing widespread airspace closures activated across the region.
Qatar Airways similarly confirmed a temporary suspension of all flights to and from Doha until further notice.
Flydubai and Air Arabia also announced cancellations and rerouting of affected services.
The disruption extended far beyond Gulf carriers. At least eight countries declared their airspace closed, including Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Syria also closed part of its southern airspace along its border with Israel for 12 hours.
Global airlines moved quickly to pull services. British Airways cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain for several days and grounded its Saturday service to Amman. Virgin Atlantic cancelled its London Heathrow to Dubai flight as a precautionary measure. Lufthansa suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman through March 7 and halted Dubai services for the weekend. Air France, Turkish Airlines, KLM, Wizz Air, Japan Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines and Indigo all announced suspensions or rerouting of regional services. Congress.gov
The European Union aviation agency issued a conflict zone alert urging all airlines to halt flights over the Middle East and Persian Gulf until Monday, citing high risks not only over Iranian airspace but across neighbouring states hosting US military bases.
Flight tracking data showed hundreds of cancellations in and out of Dubai International Airport, with nearly 20 percent of flights cancelled at Tel Aviv’s airport as of Saturday morning.
The timing compounds an already difficult situation for global aviation. The Middle East corridor serves as a critical link between Europe and Asia, a route that has been under additional pressure since the closure of Russian and Ukrainian airspace following the war in Ukraine. With the Gulf now effectively shut, airlines are being forced into long and costly detours with no clear timeline for when normal operations will resume.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, accusing the US and Israel of targeting defence infrastructure and civilian sites across multiple cities. Tehran stated that the attacks took place while Iran was actively engaged in a diplomatic process and vowed that its armed forces would respond with full power under its right to self defence.
