PakistanInternational

Nearly 20 UAE flights cancelled amid US-Iran escalation

US-Iran military escalation caused delays and cancellations for nearly 20 flights across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah on Thursday. Affected airlines included Etihad, Flydubai, Air Arabia, and SpiceJet, impacting routes to the Gulf, India, and Central Asia.

Sadia Basharat

Senior Digital Produce4 September 20262 min read

Nearly 20 UAE flights cancelled amid US-Iran escalationPhoto: QOM

Dubai: Nearly 20 regional and international flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were delayed or cancelled on Thursday following a fresh wave of US military strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory actions by Tehran across the Gulf region. The disruptions hit major UAE aviation hubs in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, affecting services operated by regional carriers such as Etihad Airways, Flydubai, and Air Arabia, as well as several international airlines.

The operational updates from UAE airport tracking data indicate that both short haul Gulf routes and longer international destinations, including cities in India and Central Asia, experienced schedule adjustments over a two day period.

In Sharjah, low cost carrier Air Arabia cancelled flight G9107 to Bahrain, along with flights G9068 and G9124 to Kuwait scheduled across Thursday and Friday. While these specific departures have faced disruptions for weeks, the airline maintained that other scheduled services (G9101, G9103, G9105, and G9121) to both Gulf nations remained operational.

At Dubai International Airport, several departures and arrivals suffered delays or cancellations across Wednesday and Thursday. Indian budget carrier SpiceJet cancelled flight SG5113 to Mumbai on Thursday and SG 052 from Pune on Wednesday, while its departure to New Delhi (SG 5106) was delayed by 50 minutes. SpiceJet's flight SG 5118 to Kochi experienced a significant delay of nearly 16 hours, moving its original 3:15 am UAE departure time to 7:12 pm. Air India flight AI 4309 to New Delhi was delayed by 57 minutes, and Iranian carrier Iran Airtour's flight B9 9720 faced a delay exceeding one hour.

Flydubai and codeshare partner Emirates also recorded timing shifts. Flight FZ 932 to Neom was delayed by two hours, while FZ 308 (EK 2178) to Kabul was delayed by nearly two hours. Other impacted routes included Flydubai services to Damascus (FZ 1848, delayed 44 minutes) and Baghdad (FZ 202, delayed 50 minutes), alongside Emirates flight EK 928 to Cairo, which was delayed by approximately 40 minutes.

Operations in Abu Dhabi were similarly affected. National carrier Etihad Airways reported a delay of nearly one hour on incoming flight EY213 from Delhi. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi recorded a 54-minute delay on flight 3L715 to Tbilisi and a delay of over an hour on flight 3L764 to Tashkent.