Major European airlines suspend Middle East flights until October

Air France has suspended flights to Riyadh, Dubai and Beirut due to regional security concerns and airspace restrictions. The French flag carrier halted its Riyadh routes until 24 July, Dubai until 27 July, and extended a Beirut suspension until 2 August.

However, these short-term cancellations mask a much broader retreat by European airlines from the Middle East. Major carriers are effectively wiping out their summer schedules in the region, with most planning to resume services only when the aviation industry’s winter timetable begins in late October.

The catalyst for the widespread disruption is a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on 14 July. The agency advised airlines to avoid the airspace of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and the Gulf of Oman until at least 29 July. Airlines are clearly anticipating that the risks will outlast this specific advisory.

The Lufthansa Group has taken the most drastic action, suspending flights to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Dammam, Erbil, Muscat, Riyadh and Tehran until 24 October. Its subsidiaries SWISS and Brussels Airlines have also grounded routes to Tel Aviv until August and late October, respectively, while Lufthansa and SWISS flights to Dubai are paused until mid-September.

British Airways has mirrored this long-term approach, delaying the resumption of flights to Dubai, Tel Aviv, Bahrain and Amman until 25 October. Rival carrier KLM has suspended its Saudi Arabian and Dubai routes through late August. Greece’s Aegean Airlines has cancelled Dubai flights until the end of August and services to Erbil and Baghdad until the end of September.

For Europe’s aviation sector, the mass cancellations represent a significant financial hit during the peak summer travel season. Airlines must absorb lost ticket revenue while simultaneously facing higher operating costs for alternative routing, as flights between Europe and Asia are forced to take longer, more fuel-intensive paths around restricted Middle Eastern airspaces.

The uncertainty is shared by global carriers operating into Europe, with Singapore Airlines extending its Dubai suspension to 24 October, and Air Canada and Cathay Pacific grounding regional routes until late October as well. Air France stated it is “monitoring the situation” in the near and Middle East “in real time,” noting that “the resumption of operations will remain subject to an assessment of the security situation on the ground, which is very fluid.”