British Airways and Singapore Airlines have suspended multiple flights to key Gulf hubs Dubai and Doha amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. As thousands of Australian travellers prepare for peak winter escapes to Europe and beyond, here’s how some of the world’s largest carriers are responding to the escalation.
Key Takeaways
- Qantas – No major changes to flight schedules or routes.
- Emirates – The airline has suspended services to Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon until at least June 30.
- Virgin Australia – The newly launched flights to Doha have not been impacted at this stage, but key partner Qatar Airways says it “continues to monitor the situation closely”.
- Qatar Airways – Announced schedule changes; suspended flights to Iran, Iraq and Syria.
- Singapore Airlines – Cancelled two flights to Dubai; warned of further disruptions as situation evolves.
- British Airways – Cancelled flights to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv; two flights diverted mid-air.
- Etihad – Halted flights to Amman and Tel Aviv until the end of June.
- United Airlines – Suspended all services to Tel Aviv and Dubai.
- American Airlines – Cancelled all operations to Doha.
Key background
So far, most Australian travellers heading overseas have avoided major flight cancellations following the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend.
British Airways and Singapore Airlines have both cancelled or re-routed flights headed to Gulf hubs Dubai, Doha and Bahrain.
According to The Independent, British Airways flight 109 took off from London Heathrow and headed towards Dubai, flying for almost five hours before re-routing to Zurich as conflict escalated in the Middle East. The aircraft’s flightpath went over Egypt, the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia. The airline also grounded its Sunday evening flights from London to Doha, and halted flights to Bahrain until the end of the month.
“The most common transfer hubs that we’re seeing requested are Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Johannesburg, or even direct between Perth and London,” Flight Centre Travel Group CEO Graham Turner told Reuters.
Live images from FlightRadar24 show commercial aircraft actively avoiding Iranian airspace, with major flight paths now rerouted.
Singapore Airlines also announced it cancelled two flights to Dubai from its home airport, and warned that “the situation remains fluid”, and Air France said it had cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh.
The flight chaos follows a further escalation in the middle east after Iran and Israel exchanged more strikes, hours after the US military struck three Iranian nuclear facilities. Most recently, Iran launched about 40 missiles at targets in Israel, while the Israeli Air Force struck targets in four cities across Iran including command centres and missile launchers.
Big number
440,000. That’s how many Australians travelled to Europe for the continent’s summer period in 2024, according to Emirates, who’s major hub is Dubai. As of April this year, Emirates had counted 120,000 Australian passengers booked for summer vacations across Europe (and 41,000 stopping over in Dubai in January alone).
What to watch for
While Qantas does not fly to Dubai or anywhere else in the Middle East, Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways (which won the world’s best airline for the ninth year in a row) do. Forbes Australia has reached out to these airlines for comment.
Tangent
If World War III discourse has you wondering about your safety, the Global Peace Index has just unveiled the world’s safest countries for 2025, with Iceland topping the list, closely followed by Ireland and New Zealand.
This story will be updated as new airline responses are confirmed.
