As the conflict in the Middle East intensifies, global air travel has been severely disrupted, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded at airports and hotels. The closure of multiple airspaces across the region over the past three days has prompted most airlines to suspend flights to and from affected countries.
While Emirates – the Middle Eastern carrier with the highest number of cancellations – resumed a limited number of services on Monday, IndiGo, among the worst-hit airlines, is operating four special flights from Jeddah on Tuesday.
As of 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, more than 3,000 flights had been cancelled and over 18,000 delayed worldwide, according to flight tracking platform FlightAware.
Here is a look at the 10 airlines most affected by flight cancellations so far.
| No. of flights cancelled | Airlines | |
| 1 | 490 | Emirates |
| 2 | 423 | Qatar Airways |
| 3 | 345 | FlyDubai |
| 4 | 193 | Etihad Airways |
| 5 | 136 | Gulf Air |
| 6 | 133 | IndiGo |
| 7 | 93 | El Al |
| 8 | 60 | Spirit |
| 9 | 49 | Royal Jordanian |
| 10 | 47 | Saudia |
Dubai International Airport continues to record the highest number of flight cancellations. On Tuesday alone, 571 outbound flights were cancelled, while 542 inbound services scheduled to arrive at the airport were also called off.
Hamad International Airport similarly faced significant disruptions, with 276 departures and 217 arrivals cancelled so far.