Passengers travelling through Dubai International (DXB) and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) on Thursday, 8 October, woke up to a familiar but frustrating message: “Check your flight status before you leave home.” Updated advisories from Gulf News show that a morning of rolling disruptions again hit the country’s four main carriers—Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia—as well as a string of foreign airlines. Cancellations affected services to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Moscow, while scores of other departures left late. The knock-on effect was felt across check-in queues, connecting flights and cargo schedules. Aviation officials and airline spokespeople blamed a combination of factors: lingering regional security concerns tied to the US-Iran conflict, the continued closure of Iraqi airspace, and operational bottlenecks as carriers re-route to avoid conflict zones. The UAE has also suspended all Iranian-operated flights “until further notice”, removing a layer of scheduling flexibility and forcing airlines to swap crews and equipment at short notice. While the disruptions are significant, there are also signs of a gradual recovery. Lufthansa Group carriers, SWISS and Austrian Airlines confirmed plans to restore or increase services from late October, adding up to 36 weekly flights at peak winter demand. Wizz Air, however, pushed back several Abu Dhabi launches to January 2027, citing the higher fuel burn of longer routings. For corporate travel managers the message is clear: build extra slack into itineraries, maintain real-time tracking of employee movements and keep alternative routings on file. Travellers should allow at least three to four hours at the airport, complete online check-in where possible and subscribe to airline apps for live alerts. Cargo shippers face similar headaches—late aircraft means missed trucking windows—so forwarders are advising clients to move time-critical freight as early in the week as possible.
Source: Gulf News
