The US and Israel’s strikes on Iran have caused chaos and destruction across the global aviation industry. Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE have escalated matters further, resulting in damage to airports, civilian deaths and injuries, and the complete closure of regional airspace.
Leading national carriers, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, have suspended all operations, while others stopped flights to the region with immediate effect. IndiGo went as far as to cancel all flights to the Caucasus for the rest of the month, the low-cost Indian airline predicting that the fallout from the conflict won’t be resolved quickly. As of Monday 2nd March, more than 5,000 flights have been cancelled after three days of airspace closures. This number will continue to climb, as Bahrain, Israel, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE’s airspaces remain closed indefinitely, while a partial closure affects Saudi Arabia.
Missile strikes on airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai resulted in eleven casualties and infrastructural damage to two of the world’s leading aviation hubs. In one weekend, the region’s reputation as a stable hub for global business has been severely shaken.
Long-term impact on airlines will be significant
The Gulf region is one of the most strategically important in aviation, providing a natural stopover for aircraft travelling between Africa, Asia, and Europe. Dubai International has grown rapidly to become the world’s busiest airport, with its flagship carrier Emirates earning international renown for its high-end, tech-forward customer service. Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar have also established themselves as important aviation centres that support global connectivity and trade.
Closing airspace in the Gulf, even for a weekend, has enormous ramifications, and not just for carriers based in these countries. Aside from cancelling thousands of flights, airlines will now have to reroute around the region, potentially resulting in higher fuel usage and further increasing costs.
IROPs: The new normal
Destabilising geopolitical events like these are no longer rare occurrences — if anything, they’re the new normal. In September 2025, Israel attacked Qatar’s capital, Doha, forcing airspace closure and the diversion or cancellation of flights. US military intervention in Venezuela earlier this year also led to disruption across Latin America and Caribbean aviation operations. These are just two notable incidences in a geopolitical environment that is only becoming more fragmented.
Contingency plans and effective mitigating solutions for IROPs should be the highest priority for airlines if they want to reduce the financial impact of unforeseen events while optimising staff deployment and keeping passengers safe. The repeated shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic placed unprecedented strain on airline operations. The lessons learnt from those unpredictable years should not be forgotten, but remembered more carefully than ever.
Passengers left stranded during this disruption might have been travelling to a funeral, for a holiday, with their family, or for business. In these stressful situations, the airlines and airports who can rise above the chaos will forge genuine relationships with their customers and provide a real sense of stability in turbulent times. Ongoing events in the Middle East are a wake-up call for the entire industry to integrate strong IROPs planning into their strategy.
For more like this, see:
