Gulf air corridors reopen cautiously as evacuations take shape
Nearly 1,900 of more than 5,450 flights scheduled to the Middle East were canceled Tuesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Middle Eastern aviation remained in turmoil Tuesday as prolonged airspace closures and flight suspensions stretched into a fourth day of the US-Israel-Iran war, even as governments and airlines began limited evacuation flights.
What happened: Nearly 1,900 of more than 5,450 flights scheduled to the Middle East were canceled Tuesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
A limited number of flights operated by the United Arab Emirates’ Etihad, Emirates and flydubai departed Monday and Tuesday, offering some relief to travelers stranded amid widespread Middle Eastern airspace closures caused by the expanding conflict between Israel, the United States and Iran that spilled into neighboring countries.
At a government media briefing, Marri said, "The capacity as of today, based on the emergency routes available, is 48 flights per hour with a possibility of increasing this figure at a later stage, according to the latest development and security ratings and measures."
He said the next phase would see 80 flights an hour with Gulf national carriers, totaling 27,000 passengers. The official added that subsequent phases would be launched based on how the security situation in the region evolves.
All scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 2359hrs UAE time on 4 March, due to airspace closures across the region.
— Emirates Support (@EmiratesSupport) March 3, 2026
Emirates continues to operate a limited number of passenger repatriation and freighter flights on 3 and 4 March. We are accommodating… pic.twitter.com/rNFG3mDovl
Flydubai began operating limited flights from terminals 2 and 3 at Dubai International Airport Tuesday.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways issued a flight update Tuesday on the social media platform X, saying: “Guests and members of the public are advised not to travel to the airport unless they have been contacted directly by Etihad and provided with confirmed ticket details. Access to the airport will be restricted for those without confirmed travel documentation."
In an update Tuesday on X, Qatar Airways said flights remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
“Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace. A further update will be provided on 04 March by 09:00 Doha time (06:00 UTC),” the airline said.
Update: Qatar Airways flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace. A further update will be provided on 04 March…
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) March 3, 2026
German travel group TUI announced Tuesday that it would start offering flights home to customers stranded in the Middle East, TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel told broadcaster NTV.
Ebel said around 30,000 German tourists were stranded in the region, including about 10,000 of TUI’s customers. He added that TUI was working with local airlines Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways to evacuate the tourists.
“We expect to carry out the first flights today with these companies to return our guests,” said Ebel.
Why it matters: Hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals have been stranded in the Middle East since the war between the US, Israel and Iran began on Saturday morning. The US and Israel began strikes on Iran before the Islamic Republic responded with a deluge of missiles and drones hitting local US military bases, Israel and nearby Gulf countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
Dubai International Airport was one of the locations targeted by Iranian drones on Sunday, sparking a site evacuation order. The airport welcomed some 95.2 million passengers last year.
Governments worldwide are under pressure to evacuate their citizens, though most have yet to launch flights because of continued airspace closures.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said there were “very limited options” for leaving the country and suggested getting a shuttle bus to Egypt.
“The US Embassy is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel,” he posted on X.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament members Tuesday that her government would charter a flight to evacuate British nationals from Oman in the coming days.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM TV that France was preparing to charter evacuation flights for the “most vulnerable” of its 400,000 nationals in the Middle East.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was organizing buses to evacuate its citizens from the UAE and Oman and will charter flights from Muscat with Oman Air and other charter providers.
The Iran Federation of Chinese Organizations is organizing the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Iran.
"Since the military operations launched by the US and Israel against Iran on Saturday, we have arranged five batches of evacuations, totaling around 400 people. Since the situation in Iran became more complicated at the end of last year, more than 3,000 Chinese citizens have been evacuated cumulatively," said Tan Kai, president of the IFCO, the Global Times reported Tuesday.
