Air travellers in the UAE face another day of uncertainty after Etihad Airways and Air Arabia cancelled multiple rotations to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on Friday, 31 July. Gulf News reports that Etihad scrubbed all Abu Dhabi–Bahrain services and pulled flights **EY 653/654** on the Kuwait route, while Air Arabia axed at least five Sharjah departures, including G9068 and G9124 to Kuwait and G9107 to Bahrain. The airlines blamed “operational reasons”, aviation shorthand for a mix of crew-routing constraints, airspace risk mitigation and lower demand triggered by the renewed US-Iran conflict. Although Emirates and flydubai continue to fly their normal schedules, they too are monitoring the situation closely, and Qatar Airways has extended suspensions on Bahrain, Erbil and Kuwait sectors until the end of the day. Regional security jitters mean that flight plans increasingly skirt large chunks of Iranian and Iraqi airspace. According to industry data, some UAE-Europe services are flying up to three extra hours around the Red Sea or Mediterranean, driving up fuel burn, crew costs and passenger connections. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has prolonged its conflict-zone advisory for Gulf airways until at least 31 August, and several Western governments continue to warn citizens of possible short-notice disruptions. Corporate travel managers should enforce a **72-hour pre-departure check** on all itineraries touching the Middle East and build buffer time into connections. Travellers heading to critical meetings may wish to book back-up options on alternative hubs such as Muscat or Riyadh. Insurers report a spike in “passive war-risk” queries as companies review whether their travel-policy wording covers missile-related diversions. While the cancellations currently affect only a handful of routes, analysts say a wider escalation could see global carriers once again reroute or ground long-haul traffic through the UAE—as happened briefly in March. Businesses with regional supply-chain or expatriate assignments should revisit contingency plans, including remote-work protocols and the feasibility of extending visas or residencies if employees become temporarily stranded.
Source: Gulf News
