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Tensions in the Middle East have caused l’cancellation of 99 flights at four major Thai airports, according to Thailand Airports (AoT).

At the global level, thousands of connections are disrupted after the closure of several airspaces.

See: Middle East conflict: over 14,700 flights disrupted, Thailand affected

Disruptions in Thailand

Travelers at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand. Photo: The Nation Thailand

Thailand's airports reported on Sunday March 1st that the situation in the Middle East had affected 134 flights, of which 99 were cancelled, at its four main airports since Saturday.

The president of the’AoT, Paweena Jariyathitipong, said that 59 flights had been cancelled at the’Suvarnabhumi airport, two at the’Don Mueang airport, two at the’Chiang Mai airport and 36 at the’Phuket airport.

According to Ms. Paweena, the airports of Chiang Rai and Hat Yai have not been affected.

Many airlines have cancelled their connections between Thailand and the Middle East or neighboring airspaces.

Among them were El Al Israel, Air Arabia, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Gulf Air, World2fly and Thai Air Asia X.

Thai Airways flights are operating normally

Thai Airways International (THAI) said on Sunday that all its flights were operating normally despite the conflict with the’Iran, the’European connections being rerouted to avoid the’airspace concerned.

The company said it had adjusted the flight paths of routes to and from Europe in order to keep them away from conflict zones.

These detours may slightly increase the duration of certain journeys.

The Tourism Authority activates its Crisis Center

In reaction to Middle East tensions and air traffic disruptions, the Thailand Tourism Authority (TAT) has activated its Tourist Crisis Monitoring Centre.

This unit is responsible for monitoring the situation in real time, coordinating assistance to affected travelers and working with airlines as well as airport authorities to ensure passenger safety and care.

The organization states that it aims to limit the impact on the tourism sector and preserve the confidence of international travelers.

Global air transport disrupted

Middle East crisis and global air traffic

The biggest disruption to global air transport since the Covid-19 pandemic has continued, with thousands of flights affected and the closure of heavily frequented Middle East hubs, as Iran retaliated against American-Israeli strikes.

Israel and Iran carried out new attacks on Sunday, after Tehran struck Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport in terms of international traffic, and Kuwait’s main airport in retaliatory strikes the day before.

Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all announced on Saturday the at least partial closure of their airspace after the United States and Israel's attack on Iran, causing the abrupt halt of civil air traffic over the Middle East.

Among the notable airlines that have cancelled their flights, we can cite Emirates, Etihad, Air France, British Airways, Air India, Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa.

The flight tracking site FlightAware reported that more than 6 700 flights were delayed and 1 900 cancelled worldwide at 10 h GMT on Sunday, in addition to thousands of flights cancelled the day before.

Airspace closures

Iran’ quickly closed its airspace at the start of the strikes « until further notice », said the spokesperson of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, announced the Transport Minister, Miri Regev.

The l’civil aviation authority of Qatar announced it had temporarily closed l’airspace of the Gulf State.

Iraq closed its airspace, state media said.

The United Arab Emirates declared that they were closing their airspace « partially and temporarily ».

Syria has closed part of its airspace in the south, along the border with Israel, for 12 hours, the civil aviation authority said.

The’ army of the’ air Jordanian was conducting exercises to « defend the kingdom’s sky », the army said.

Kuwait closed its airspace.

Middle East and North Africa airlines

Gulf airlines Emirates and Etihad cancelled 38% and 30% of their flights respectively, according to Cirium.

Qatar Airways has suspended all its flights departing from Doha.

It cancelled 41% of its flights, according to the ’aeronautical analysis company Cirium.

Syria Air, the national airline of the country, has cancelled all its flights until further notice.

The Egyptian national airline, EgyptAir, announced the suspension of its flights to several Middle Eastern cities, including Dubai, Doha, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Baghdad.

European airlines

The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said that all commercial flights to Israel and ’Iran were cancelled « until further notice ».

Turkish Airlines has cancelled its flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan until March 2.

Air France cancelled its flights to Dubai, Riyadh, Beirut and Tel Aviv until’ Sunday, thus extending its previous suspension.

British Airways stated that it’d not serve Tel-Aviv and Bahrain until March 4 and cancelled its flights to the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday.

Swiss International Air Lines suspended its flights to and from Tel Aviv until’ March 7 and cancelled its flights between Zurich and Dubai scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The German airline Lufthansa, which includes Swiss and ITA Airways, has cancelled its flights to and from Tel-Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until’the 7 March.

The airline group and its subsidiaries have suspended their flights to and from Dubai and ’Abu Dhabi until ’Sunday.

North American airlines

Delta Air Lines has suspended its New York–Tel Aviv flights until ’Sunday.

American Airlines « temporarily suspended » its flights Doha-Philadelphia.

United flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until Monday, and those to Dubai until Sunday.

Air Canada said it has cancelled its flights between Canada and Israel until March 8 and to Dubai until March 3.

Airlines d’Asia-Pacific

The two largest private Indian airlines, IndiGo and Air India, have suspended their flights to all Middle East destinations.

Pakistan International Airlines, the national airline of the bordering country of ’Iran, has announced that it has suspended its flights to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait.

Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong airline, has suspended its flights to Dubai and Riyadh.

Garuda Indonesia, the Indonesian national airline, has temporarily suspended its flights to and from Doha « until further notice », the airline said in a statement on Sunday.

Singapore Airlines and Scoot, based in Singapore, cancelled six air links in the region until’the end of Sunday, local media reported.

Philippine Airlines flights between Manila and Doha, Riyadh and Manila, and Dubai and Manila were cancelled Saturday, as well as ’a flight between Doha and Manila on Sunday.

D’autres major airlines, notably Qantas in Australia and All Nippon Airways in Japan, have not announced any flight cancellations.