Quick overview

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British Airways anticipates months of disruption in the Gulf, as evidenced by the cancellation of all flights into Dubai until at least June. The airline announced on Monday that it would not operate flights to Doha, Qatar, until the end of April and to Dubai, Amman, Bahrain, or Tel Aviv until after May 31. There won’t be any flights to Abu Dhabi until later this year. As the conflict enters its third week, this is the longest major airline cancellation announced thus far.

Lufthansa and Air France, two European competitors, have announced cancellations this month. Travel agencies have also begun to cancel vacation packages that pass through the United Arab Emirates, citing the insurance risk of passengers becoming stranded through its airports.

BA’s decision was made just hours after a drone attack that started a fire at a nearby fuel tank early on Monday, forcing Dubai’s main airport to close for seven hours. Flights operated by Emirates had to be rerouted.

Virgin Atlantic cancelled its revived service, and none of the major European airlines have resumed flights to Dubai. BA announced that it had extended the period “due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability.”

Previously, BA had canceled its services until later this month. It will keep flying to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah and Riyadh, less impacted by the airspace restrictions

. Flights at Dubai’s main airport, which was the busiest international airport before the war, were suspended starting at around six in the morning local time.

Later in the day, Dubai International gradually started operating flights to a few destinations. Authorities said the fire had been contained earlier in the day, but no injuries were reported.

Although the frequency of Iranian drone attacks has decreased recently, they have nevertheless targeted strategically significant locations like Dubai’s ports, airports, and buildings.