In a separate but related operational notice released on the morning of 14 October, Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia published detailed lists of flight cancellations affecting virtually every UAE-Saudi city pair for 14–19 October. The data, collated by aviation-analytics firm Cirium and confirmed by the carriers, show that 3,129 scheduled Saudi departures—over 40 per cent of the week’s programme—had already been removed by 20:00 local time on 13 October. Emirates has grounded six daily rotations on the flagship Dubai–Riyadh trunk and is also cancelling selected services to Jeddah, Dammam and Medina. Etihad will maintain a skeleton Abu Dhabi–Jeddah service but has suspended all Abu Dhabi–Riyadh and Abu Dhabi–Dammam flights through at least 18 October. Low-cost operators flydubai and Air Arabia report cancellations across Riyadh, Abha, Neom, Taif and Tabuk, advising passengers to rebook or claim refunds via their apps. The blanket cancellations will impact thousands of UAE residents who commute weekly to Saudi Arabia for consulting, construction and energy projects. Human-resources teams are scrambling to arrange remote-work approvals or shift staff onto indirect routings via Kuwait, Bahrain or Doha. Insurance brokers warn that many corporate travel policies exclude war-risk disruptions, urging firms to review coverage before authorising expensive last-minute routings. Regulators in both countries have so far stopped short of a formal air-space closure, but UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has raised the conflict-zone risk level for FIR Jeddah and is requiring operators to file revised risk assessments within 72 hours. Travel managers should keep proofs of involuntary cancellations on file, as UAE tax rules allow unrecoverable travel spend to be treated as deductible if force majeure can be demonstrated.
Source: Gulf News
