Airlines are tentatively reinstating services to Gulf and Levant destinations after last week’s escalation in the Iran–US conflict, according to a Reuters fact-box update released this morning. While carriers such as Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and IAG (parent of Aer Lingus partner British Airways) have pencilled in restart dates from late July through October, many routes remain suspended and overflights of Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian airspace continue to be avoided. For Irish business travellers the picture is mixed. Aer Lingus does not operate into the Persian Gulf, but a large share of Ireland–Middle East traffic relies on British Airways’ Dublin–London–Doha/Dubai connections and on Lufthansa’s Dublin–Frankfurt hub. Those itineraries will stay disrupted until at least August for Doha and September for Dubai. Low-cost carrier Wizz Air, which carries significant leisure traffic from Irish regional airports via its European bases, has extended suspensions to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until mid-September. Travel-management companies in Dublin report corporates re-routing high-value staff through Istanbul and Rome to reach the Gulf, lengthening journeys by four to six hours and increasing costs. Insurance underwriters are also revising war-risk premiums on tickets touching the region. Risk guidance: Employers should • confirm that duty-of-care assessments and crisis-evacuation plans cover alternative routings through Turkey and Italy, • check that travel insurance policies include current “war-risk” surcharges for Middle-East sectors, • advise travellers that same-day connections may be impossible due to rerouted flightpaths and extended ground times. Aviation analysts say a full return to pre-crisis schedules is unlikely before Q4, meaning Irish export and construction projects in the Gulf will need to budget for higher mobility costs into 2027.
Source: Reuters via Investing.com
