By Kimberley Kao and Aimee Look
British Airways, Air France and KLM, and other European airlines extended their suspensions of flights to Dubai and other major Middle Eastern travel hubs amid the conflict in the region.
The war in the Middle East has airlines contending with the conflict and surging fuel prices. On-and-off airspace and airport restrictions are forcing carriers to reroute planes, on sometimes lengthy detours at a time energy prices are rising due to oil supply constraints.
British Airways, part of airline group IAG, said Monday that flights to Amman, in Jordan, Bahrain, Dubai and Tel Aviv have been canceled until May 31, while flights to Doha, in Qatar, are canceled until April 30. This was "due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability, and to provide more clarity to our customers," it said.
Last week, British Airways said these flight routes would be canceled until later this month, while also suspending flights to and from Abu Dhabi until later this year.
British Airways said its London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi route would return for its planned winter schedule, operating daily from Oct. 25.
It has also increased frequencies to Bangkok and Singapore to meet rising demand due to the situation in the Middle East, British Airways said.
Air France, part of Air France-KLM, said it extended cancellations of flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until March 20, according to a notice on its website. Flights to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut are canceled until the end of March 21.
The French airline said it has been increasing aircraft capacity to flights going to Asia since the start of March, sending larger-capacity aircraft and additional flights to Bangkok, Singapore and Delhi, due to strong demand. The airline is also working with the French authorities to provide support for repatriation flights, it said.
Air France's Dutch partner airline, Amsterdam-based KLM, said it is extending a suspension of flights to and from Dubai, and Riyadh and Dammam, in Saudi Arabia, until March 28. KLM's flights to and from Tel Aviv remain suspended up to and including April 11, it said in the notice.
Deutsche Lufthansa said the group's airlines--Lufthansa, SWISS, ITA Airways, Austrian Airlines, and Eurowings--have been ordered by the operator of Dubai airports to cancel all flights until March 28.
Dubai Airports didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it is gradually resuming some flights in coordination with airlines and authorities, and that priority is being given to departing flights.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com and to Aimee Look at aimee.look@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 17, 2026 08:57 ET (12:57 GMT)
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