Air traffic in the Middle East under pressure: airspace closures paralyzed major hubs and echoed at ITB Berlin
Global aviation in recent days has entered one of the most serious operational crises of this decade after airspace closures and restrictions over parts of the Middle East spilled over into key hubs in the Gulf. According to data and reports published by international media and specialized aviation portals, disruptions are particularly visible in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha – three points that carry a large share of intercontinental transit – operated at reduced speed or were in certain periods practically blocked. Such a standstill, with a series of canceled and diverted flights, left tens of thousands of passengers in uncertainty and created a chain reaction on routes between Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.
What triggered the wave of closures and restrictions
According to available information, the wave of air-traffic restrictions intensified after a sudden deterioration of the security situation in the region in late February 2026, when notices of flight suspensions, temporary airspace closures, and instructions to airlines to adjust routes appeared in parallel. Multiple sources link the escalation to military strikes and retaliatory attacks, prompting civil aviation authorities and carriers to resort to the strictest precautionary measures: withdrawing fleets from risky corridors, temporarily closing certain airports, and limiting landings to previously approved, mostly repatriation or logistics flights. In such an environment, even a relatively short shutdown of a major transit airport generates enormous passenger backlogs, because these are hubs through which tens of thousands of people pass daily.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha: from “global crossroads” to bottlenecks
Megahubs felt the most direct blow. Dubai International (DXB) and Al Maktoum (DWC) began in early March to gradually allow limited operations, but primarily for passengers who have already been rebooked and for carefully planned departures. According to a report citing carriers’ operational notices, part of the flights from Dubai continued under a limited regime from March 2, with a gradual return of certain services after passengers had previously been diverted or allocated to alternative options. At the same time, Etihad announced a temporary suspension of commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi until Thursday, March 5, 2026, with a message to passengers not to come to the airport without direct notice from the company, suggesting very precise capacity management in extraordinary circumstances.
In Qatar, Doha, as the home of Qatar Airways and one of the most important transit terminals between Europe and Asia, according to multiple reports remained under significant restrictions, with occasional airspace closures that practically prevented normal schedule operations. When predictability is removed from such points, the entire global system develops “bottlenecks”: aircraft and crews cannot rotate as planned, slots are lost, and passengers accumulate in hotels or transit zones.
How large is the scale of disruption
The scale is being tracked in real time via flight-tracking tools and cancellation statistics. One report states that during a single day more than 2,400 flights were canceled at airports across the region, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar among those closed or heavily affected, as well as Manama in Bahrain. Another source speaks of thousands of additional cancellations in the days that followed, with estimates rising to more than 11,000 canceled flights and more than a million affected passengers, illustrating how quickly a regional security shock becomes a global traffic problem.
Behind the numbers are concrete situations: missed connections, passengers arriving late to business meetings, students and workers unable to get home, as well as tourists whose packages “collapsed” due to the inability to reach onward connections. Airlines in such conditions often introduce ad hoc priority lists, reroute passengers via other hubs, and seek additional slots in Europe and Asia, but capacity is limited, and destinations often lack the infrastructure for a sudden influx of thousands of rerouted passengers.
Chain reaction on global routes and prices
When Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha are temporarily “pulled” out of the system, the consequences do not stop in the region. These are hubs that under normal circumstances enable relatively short and efficient connections between continents. In a crisis, planes are rerouted onto longer paths to avoid closed corridors, which increases fuel consumption and flight time, and in some cases requires additional technical landings. Such changes strain fleets and crews, create wave-like delays, and raise operating costs, which indirectly spill over into prices.
Warnings about rising prices and reduced availability are particularly sensitive because the crisis is occurring in a period when part of the market is preparing for spring school holidays and a more intense wave of travel. If air traffic does not stabilize quickly enough, the already sensitive supply chain in tourism – from hotels to tour operators – could face additional losses, especially in the segment of long-haul travel that depends on reliable transit points.
What passengers can expect: rebooking, care, and insurance limitations
For passengers, the key difference is between what a carrier can offer and what travel insurance covers. Specialist media warn that insurance often activates only after a passenger exhausts rebooking rights or care through the company or travel organizer, and there are also exclusions related to war and military circumstances. In practice, this means passengers first rely on carriers’ notices, booking changes, and possible accommodation arrangements, while later, depending on the policy and legal frameworks, reimbursement of certain costs may be sought. Reports also emphasize the importance of following official warnings from governments and consular services, because ignoring formal recommendations can affect the ability to claim under a policy.
In some cases, especially when airports operated in a limited repatriation-flight regime, passengers had to accept complex itineraries: transfers to smaller airports, longer waits between flights, and last-minute destination changes. This further burdened companies’ information centers, and customer services, according to passenger testimonies reported by the media, operated under heavy pressure.
ITB Berlin 2026: the tourism industry in the shadow of the air standstill
At the same time as flights change and corridors close in the Middle East, ITB Berlin 2026, the world’s largest tourism trade fair, is being held in Berlin. Although organizers and participants traditionally emphasize optimism and growth, the atmosphere this year has additional complexity: global uncertainty and logistical problems have become as much a topic of conversation as destination promotions. Multiple on-the-ground reports mention that the 60th edition of the fair is “sold out,” but that at the same time there is a sense of more space in the corridors and a somewhat more restrained pace on the first day, which some observers link to the current disruptions in air traffic and, more generally, to geopolitical uncertainty.
Particularly in focus are countries and companies that rely on air connections via Gulf hubs. When delegations are delayed or cannot travel, presentations are postponed, meetings are canceled, and marketing campaigns lose part of their planned momentum. According to reports from the Berlin halls, at some stands of usually strongly represented Gulf players the impression is unusually quiet, which fits into the broader picture: at a moment when the main hubs are under restrictions, tourism itself loses one of its key tools – predictable mobility.
Messages from the stage: tourism between geopolitics and resilience
That the geopolitical context has become inseparable from the tourism industry is also shown by the ITB program. At the opening, according to a report by a specialized portal, former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer warned that the global order is changing and that the industry must adapt to new security and political circumstances. In the same tone, some participants speak about the need to strengthen resilience: diversifying routes, more flexible contracts with carriers, and digital solutions that can cushion disruptions in physical travel, for example through faster rebooking redirection and better coordination between airports, carriers, and tour operators.
For destinations, especially those that depend on international flights with transfers, such a crisis is not only a logistical problem. It raises the issue of reputation and trust: passengers, once they experience multi-day waiting, often change plans and choose closer or simpler routes. That can shift demand in upcoming seasons, even if the security situation calms quickly.
Wider effects: cargo traffic, crews, and aviation networks
Airspace disruptions do not affect only passengers. A significant part of global air logistics passes through Gulf airports, including urgent shipments, medical equipment, and high-value goods. Specialized sources warn that in crisis days some passenger flights are replaced by cargo and repatriation operations, while regular cargo is rerouted or temporarily delayed. Every additional reroute means longer transit time and higher costs, which can affect supply chains in Europe and Asia.
At the same time, crews are one of the most sensitive resources: duty-time and rest regulations are strict, and when an aircraft gets “stuck” at the wrong point, it is not easy to return it to the network without additional rotations. That is why companies sometimes have to send replacement crews, and under conditions of restricted airspace this becomes a complex logistical operation.
Why Gulf hubs are especially important
Analysts note that Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha in recent years have grown into global “junctions” thanks to geography and strong national carriers. Under normal circumstances, that model enables connecting a large number of destinations with relatively few transfers. But the same model also has a vulnerability: when a security risk appears in a zone through which key corridors pass, alternative routes quickly become overloaded. In such moments it becomes clear how interdependent the aviation network is – and how difficult it is to make up for the loss of just one major hub, let alone several at the same time.
When traffic could normalize
Currently, carriers’ operational notices change day by day, and some airlines announce continuation of suspensions at least until Thursday, March 5, 2026, with the possibility of extension depending on security assessments. In the United Arab Emirates, a partial recovery is emerging through the limited return of certain flights, but specialist portals warn that this does not mean a return to the usual level of capacity. In such conditions, passengers and the industry can expect a gradual, not immediate, return to a normal flight schedule, with the possibility of new disruptions if further escalations occur.
For Europe, including Croatia, the most important short-term effect is disruption of connections to Asia and parts of Africa, as well as a possible wave of rerouting via other hubs such as Istanbul or certain European airports. Passengers are advised that, before departing for the airport, they confirm flight status and check alternative options, because in crisis circumstances changes often come at the last minute.
Sources:- The Guardian – report on suspensions of flights by major carriers and estimates of the scale of cancellations (link)- LiveMint – overview of the operational situation in Dubai and Etihad’s suspension until March 5, 2026 (link)- CBS News – data on the number of canceled flights and affected airports, citing FlightAware (link)- Gulf News – official notices and the latest status changes of UAE carriers’ flights (link)- Condé Nast Traveler – analysis of what travel insurance covers during airspace closures (link)- Breaking Travel News – report from ITB Berlin 2026 and messages about geopolitical challenges in tourism (link)- eTurboNews – first-day impression of ITB Berlin 2026 and the emphasis on industry resilience (link)
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