United States and Israel military strikes on Iran commencing
Feb. 28 have led to mass airline cancellations for the Middle East region.
There were 4,218 flights scheduled to arrive Saturday into
11 Middle East countries, with 966 of those canceled by 5 p.m. Eastern time,
according to aviation analytics company Cirium. Several flights already in-air
had been diverted.
Also as of that time, 716 flights for March 1 had been
officially canceled out of 4,329 scheduled, according to Cirium; however,
several countries in the region have closed their airspace, including Israel,
Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain, according
to ABC News, meaning there will be more cancellations.
"Many airlines will not have officially canceled their
schedules, but those flights by and large will not operate," according to
Cirium.
The three global U.S. airlines that operate routes to and
from the Middle East were able to cancel their flights before take-off on Feb.
28 and have temporarily suspended operations to the region.
Delta Air Lines canceled its one flight scheduled to Tel
Aviv, and United Airlines had canceled the four it had scheduled to the region,
according to Cirium.
American Airlines had canceled its flight to Doha, Qatar;
the carrier had not yet resumed flights to Tel Aviv, which have been suspended
since October 2023 but were
scheduled to resume March 28.
All three carriers have issued travel waivers for affected
customers.
Two airports in the United Arab Emirates have reported attacks,
according to the ABC News report. Dubai International Airport said four people
were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said one person
was killed and seven others injured in a drone strike. In addition, Kuwait International Airport also
reportedly experienced strikes.