Here’s what you need to know about travel to the Middle East right now.
On February 28, U.S. and Israeli forces launched missile strikes on Iran, which retaliated with its own missile and drone attacks on U.S. and civilian targets in several countries in the Gulf Region, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Oman.
The conflict is ongoing, and has upended air traffic throughout the Gulf Region. Airspace in Qatar and the UAE quickly closed, cancelling some 11,000 flights over the weekend and impacting travel plans for upwards of one million travelers, reports The New York Times.
A passenger terminal at Dubai International Airport was hit by an Iranian drone strike Sunday, injuring four airport workers. Drones also damaged at least two luxury hotels in Dubai over the weekend.
Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai are home to large international airports whose primary airline tenants operate large worldwide networks, connecting intercontinental air passengers to all continents. Many North American and European travelers use Gulf Region airports as a connecting point for travel to Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Many of those travelers’ plans are now on hold with the closure of these hubs.
Airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi reopened to limited flights on March 2 to help clear the backlog of stranded passengers, but the airport operators in both cities urged passengers not to go to the airport unless they had received word from their airline they had been confirmed on a new flight. Airspace in Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain remains closed.
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The governments of both the UAE and Qatar requested that local hotel operators extend the stays of visitors who could not depart the country, and that the government would cover their expenses until they could evacuate. An estimated 20,000 travelers were stuck in the UAE after their flights were canceled.
Oman Air continues limited operations from its hub at Muscat International Airport, although it has suspended regional flights within the Gulf, which affected by neighboring airspace closures. Some stranded passengers in the UAE hired private security firms to provide five-hour overland transfers from Dubai or Abu Dhabi in order to board flights at Muscat. Other travelers took even longer overland journeys to board flights in Saudi Arabia, where air operations have largely continued.
Passengers whose flights have been canceled can request a refund of their ticket from their airline or travel agent. Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways are allowing free rebooking without penalty to another date or a ticket refund of passengers booked on any of their flights up to and including March 10. That date is likely to extend with any extension in the closure of Qatari and Emirati airspace.
Travelers who had planned travel to other destinations outside the region whose travel plans were affected by the airspace closures can apply to their travel insurance for a reimbursement for any prepaid expenses related to their travel that cannot be refunded. The conflict falls squarely into what airlines call force majeure in their carriage contracts, meaning they aren’t liable for passenger expenses related to any delays or cancellations.
On March 3, the U.S. State Department closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait following drone attacks from Iran. The State Department also urged Americans to immediately depart from 14 Middle East countries as Iran continued retaliatory missile and drone strikes. The advisory warned of “serious safety risks” and included Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian territories.
The State Department also ordered the evacuation of nonessential staffers and their families from embassies in six countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.