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The Latest Middle East Flight Disruption Updates
Since the conflict in the Middle East escalated, more than 40,000 flights have been cancelled, causing major disruption worldwide.
Here are the latest updates:
Virgin Atlantic
On Friday, a Virgin flight to Dubai turned into a 16-hour flight to nowhere. Virgin has now announced that all Dubai flights are suspended for the rest of the winter season until 28th March. Riyadh flights are also paused for the next two weeks pending further review.
If you have a Virgin Holiday booked, you can contact them to discuss flexible booking options.
If you’re stuck in a destination, you can register with Virgin as ‘Away from Home‘ so Virgin can prioritise support. Reasonable expenses will be covered where necessary.
Emirates
Emirates is operating a reduced schedule until further notice and is advising passengers not to go to the airport unless the booking is confirmed.
They are offering free re-booking for travel until 31st March, provided the new travel date is on or before 30th April 2026. You can also request a refund if you no longer wish to travel.
Qatar Airways
Scheduled flights remain temporarily suspended due to airspace closures, but there are now some relief flights via operating corridors (view the list here), including some to Heathrow.
If you are due to fly up to 22nd March, you can change the date of your flight free of charge up to 14 days from the original travel date, or receive a refund for the unused value of the ticket. You should not go to the airport unless you have a valid and confirmed ticket.
Oman Air
All flights are cancelled to the following destinations until 15th March:
- Amman
- Dubai
- Bahrain
- Doha
- Dammam
- Kuwait
- Copenhagen
- Baghdad
- Khasab
If affected, you can change your departure date free of charge to a new travel date up to 29th March 2026, use the value of your ticket towards a new booking, or, if your travel date was before 8th March, get a refund.
Most long-haul services continue to operate as usual. Extra flights have been added to some destinations to help stranded passengers (view the list here).
Muscat Airport has been widely used for repatriation flights by embassies and many airlines.
British Airways
BA is unable to operate flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv.
If you are booked to travel until 15th March (including Riyadh flights), you can change the date of your flight free to travel on or before 29th March, request a full refund, or, in some cases, switch to a different route.
BA is operating a number of recovery flights from Muscat for customers already in Oman or the UAE with an existing booking.
Etihad
Etihad is operating a limited number of flights from Abu Dhabi to Manchester and Heathrow. Those with previous bookings are being prioritised.
Tickets issued on or before 28th February 2026, for original travel up to 21st March 2026, can be re-booked free for flights until 15th May 2026. You can request a refund for flights due to depart on or before 21st March.
KLM
Flights to and from Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam are suspended up to and including 10th March. The remainder of the winter season flights to Tel Aviv have also been cancelled.
If you’re affected by the KLM cancellations, you will be contacted directly and offered re-booking or a refund.
Lufthansa Group Airlines
Cancelled flights include:
- Dammam, Dubai and Abu Dhabi flights – 15th March
- Tel Aviv – 2nd April
- Amman and Erbil – 15th March
- Beirut – 28th March
- Tehran – 30th April
You can request a refund or re-book onto a later flight.
Other Flight Cancellation Updates
- Turkish Airlines: Flights to a range of destinations, including the UAE, Jordan, Oman and Qatar, have been cancelled. For eligible bookings on those routes between 28th February and 31st March 2026, you can change the date of your flight, request a refund, or extend the ticket’s validity until 10th May.
- Air France: No Riyadh or Dubai flights until at least 10th March. No flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut until at least 11th March.
- Finnair: All flights to Doha and Dubai are cancelled until 29th March.
- Saudia: Flights to and from Amman, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain are suspended until 10th March. Dubai flights have resumed on a limited schedule. You can make a free date change within 14 days of services resuming on the affected route.
- Qantas: The London-to-Perth route will now make a fuel stop in Singapore due to route adjustments.
Flash Offer: Royal Jordanian Extends Status Match to Hotel Elite Status Holders
Royal Jordanian has an ongoing status match offer that’s usually only open to status holders of specific airline loyalty programmes, with the option to match hotel status to Silver Jay (Oneworld Ruby).
From 9th-15th March, this now extends to Gold Sparrow (Oneworld Sapphire) for some hotel status holders for a cost of $199 (£149).
Eligible hotel statuses include:
- Accor – Platinum and Diamond
- Hilton – Diamond
- Hyatt – Globalist
- IHG – Platinum Elite, Diamond Elite, Royal Ambassador
- Marriott Bonvoy – Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, Ambassador Elite
Oneworld Sapphire benefits include Business Class lounge access with one guest, preferred seating, priority boarding and baggage handling, extra baggage allowance, plus the oneworld Ruby benefits of priority check-in, priority waitlisting, and standby.
If you’ve already taken part in a Royal Jordanian status match, you won’t be able to match again. Once approved, the status will be valid for 12 months (matched status does not include upgrade vouchers).
You’ll need to make a Royal Jordanian Royal Club account and upload proof of your hotel status to match.
Worth It?
You’ll have a year to enjoy oneworld benefits while either trying to renew your status or using the time to decide whether oneworld is the right alliance for you, or if SkyTeam or Star Alliance would be a better fit.
Gold Sparrow status can be renewed if you earn 30,000 tier miles or fly 26 segments within 12 months. Importantly, those flights can be on a Oneworld airline (such as British Airways) and do not have to be with Royal Jordanian.
If you have an eligible hotel status and don’t yet have Oneworld status, this is a rare opportunity. You just need to consider whether the cost is worth it.
