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Mohd Umardaraz, a passenger from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, found himself stranded at Delhi’s Terminal-3 airport after his flight to Kuwait was canceled. The cancellation occurred on March 1, 2026, due to airspace restrictions over Iran and parts of the Middle East. This disruption was part of a larger regional impact following the U.S. and Israel’s military actions against Iran on Saturday.
Photographed by Arvind Yadav for Hindustan Times and Getty Images, Umardaraz’s plight highlights the widespread chaos that has gripped travelers across the region. Over 11,000 flights had been canceled in the Middle East, leaving countless passengers in limbo. However, a glimmer of hope emerged as the first flights began to depart from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday.
Signaling a cautious return to normalcy, local authorities have allowed a “limited number” of flights to resume. Among the first to take off was Emirates flight EK500, departing at 9:12 p.m. local time for Mumbai, India. This flight operated on an Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world, and marked a significant step toward restoring air travel in the region.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Flydubai managed to send a flight to Warsaw, Poland, as recorded by Flightradar24, a leading flight tracking service. Additionally, Air Baltic executed a repositioning flight from Dubai, though it did not carry any passengers. These developments indicate a careful yet hopeful move towards re-establishing regular flight operations amidst ongoing regional tensions.
The first was Emirates flight EK500, which departed at 9:12 p.m. local time bound for Mumbai, India, according to Flightradar24, a flight tracking site. The flight was operated on an Airbus A380, the world’s biggest passenger plane.
Another, Flydubai flight to Warsaw, Poland, departed after 1 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Flightradar24 said. An Air Baltic plane left Dubai but the Latvia-based carrier said it was solely a repositioning flight, not carrying passengers.
Separately, Israeli airline El Al said Monday that it’s considering chartering private jets to bring stranded Israeli citizens home.
The announcements mark a potential improvement after air travel ground to a halt in a large swath of the Middle East over the weekend following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory strikes.
The attacks shut airspace over a large part of the region, stranding hundreds of thousands of customers around the world, including those who weren’t flying to and from the area since aircraft couldn’t transit those zones. Dubai is one of the busiest air travel hubs in the world.
The airport authority that owns and manages airports in Dubai said a small number of flights would be permitted to operate from Dubai International and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International, but advised travelers to check with their airlines.
For its part, Emirates said it will start operating a “limited number of flights” Monday night and urged customers not to go to the airport unless notified by the airline.
“We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority,” it said in a post on X. “All other flights remain suspended until further notice,” it said.
El Al said it is considering hiring KlasJet planes to take passengers from European airports to Aqaba, over the southern border in Jordan, for customers of the airline. It previously considered flying in and out of Taba, Egypt, but later Monday said that plan was scrapped “due to the lack of approval from the security authorities in Israel.”
Etihad Airways based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, said Monday that all commercial flights to and from the city are suspended until afternoon local time on Wednesday, though it could operate some cargo and repatriation flights “subject to strict operational and safety protocols.”
