Middle East Airspace Diversions/Cancellations

[JessicaTam]

Bit of GPS jamming/spoofing going on

Check EK569

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

View flight EK569 from Bengaluru to Dubai on Flightradar24

fr24.com

Looks like they are now landing.

 

[RooFlyer]

The UAE putting money before passengers' lives IMO

Up to the passengers, surely? I wouldn't fly the ME route now, but I intend to in a few weeks.

___________

There was a bunch of race-tracking at DXB yesterday too, then they all went in.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hard to fake FR24 though

Flights might have been temporarily grounded but I think there’s a big difference from the airport being ‘hit’, vs some falling debris.

 

[JessicaTam]

Flights might have been temporarily grounded but I think there’s a big difference from the airport being ‘hit’, vs some falling debris.

It may take some time to determine which it was hence the closure.

 

[RooFlyer]

Why on earth are we looking at Twitter for 'news'?

 

[justinbrett]

Flights might have been temporarily grounded but I think there’s a big difference from the airport being ‘hit’, vs some falling debris.

A moot point IMO, it’s just another example that we are a long way from normal operations and there is a real risk to safety which has to be carefully managed.

Also if the UAE are still intercepting Iranian missiles there goes that theory of a backchannel deal.

 

[Pushka]

Why on earth are we looking at Twitter for 'news'?

Because the first I read of the US air strike was on X and there was no mention of it yet on AFF or the usual news sites. If something is happening, like the 7.2 earthquake we experienced in Bali, the first thing we did was check X and from that we knew we didn't need to evacuate as it was on the other side of the bay. We sure felt it at 3.30am.

 

[stu961]

Sorry, I'm too old for coaches...

it’s not so much about money - all three have essentially unlimited financial backing by their respective governments - but money isn’t everything, customer preference is really important.

Of the three, Abu Dhabi (Etihad) is by far the richest, yet their airline has struggled in recent times with a big decline in Australian services. EK has lot of market share to QR - and all will likely lose some to Riyadh air. Asian/European/Australian carriers will gain some out of this crisis. Money isn’t everything.

Sure, Asian/European carriers and a Australian carrier will gain something out of the crisis, that is happening right now and is obvious. As my wife and I pay for all our airfares out of our pocket, quality of product and value will return over time. The question was/is, how quickly!
The use of the phrase "money isn't everything" in relation to a particular Australian carrier is rather bemusing. Paraphrasing the banking royal commissioner "it might be legal but it's sure not right" does spring to my mind!

 

[exLXCXFF]

Looks like EK76 landed at DWC after all - wouldn’t call this normal Ops. Maybe lower on fuel?

 

[aaa99]

FR24 just gave a featured flight notification for the first QR flight leaving DOH since last week

 

[exLXCXFF]

Looks like EK76 landed at DEC after all - wouldn’t call this normal Ops. Maybe lower on fuel?

Looks EK48, EK38, and EK86 also going into DWC rather than DXB.

 

[Seat0B]

Sorry, I'm too old for coaches...

I understand, but you can buy a guaranteed spare seat next to you which actually makes it quite tolerable.

 

[Berlin]

Out of pure curiosity (and also because we got guests from Germany here in Sydney atm who are booked to go back on QR in a weeks time) - how is QR treating its passengers through all this? While they have a great product onboard, we’ve started to loathe them whenever there are delays or issues on the ground. Clueless staff in Doha (friendly but zero empowered or informed to help with anything flight related- even in the lounges), generally bad information policies and some pretty bad recent experiences in Doha airport. I cannot even fathom all this stuff now if you’re stuck in Doha- both the UAE airlines have always been much much better in this respect from my experience.

Just curious to know. Actually- the last two years we went on QR for our annual Europe trip. We had SUCH bad experiences with delays at DOH last time around, that this time we booked Cathay rather. And now I’m counting my lucky stars that we did!

 

[LionKing]

View attachment 499786
FR24 just gave a featured flight notification for the first QR flight leaving DOH since last week

Qatar Airways is currently operating limited flights via a safe corridor from Doha:

Qatar Airways scheduled flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe full reopening of Qatari airspace by the relevant authorities. A further update will be provided on 8 March by 09:00 Doha time (06:00 UTC).



Following temporary authorisation from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority confirming a safe operating corridor, Qatar Airways intends to operate repatriation flights on 07 March, departing from Hamad International Airport to the following airports: London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Madrid (MAD), Rome (FCO) and Frankfurt (FRA).



Priority on these flights was given to stranded passengers with families, elderly passengers, and those with urgent medical and compassionate travel needs. Each flight was pre-allocated by Qatar Airways directly to such affected passengers.



These flights do not constitute a confirmation of resumption of scheduled commercial operations.



Passengers are kindly requested not to proceed to the airport unless they have already received an official notification from Qatar Airways for these flights.



Qatar Airways has contacted affected passengers directly with their assigned flight details, travel arrangements and next steps.



We are working around the clock to organise additional relief flights where operationally possible and will share further updates as soon as they are confirmed.



Please ensure your contact details are up to date so we can reach you with flight information and instructions. Details can be updated at qatarairways.com or through the Qatar Airways mobile app.



The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority during this period of disruption. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by the current situation, which is beyond our control, and thank our passengers for their patience and understanding.



As a continuing measure, please be reminded that if you have a confirmed booking with a travel date between 28 February and 15 March 2026, you are eligible for:

• Complimentary date changes of up to 14 days from the original travel date, or
• Refund of the unused value of your ticket.

https://www.qatarairways.com/en-au/travel-alerts.html

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For those with QR flights ex EU/UK, reports are now confirming re-routing. Some of these are being given at first instance, some require mentioning EU/UK261.

Some agents are rerouting on OW carriers only, but others are putting pax on non-parters such as TK. (As a passenger you don’t have to accept OW if there’s an earlier re-routing.)

More info in this thread from FT: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qat.../2196950-airspace-closure-delays-help-37.html (the link should take you towards the latest posts in the thread).

You can do this by phone or by chat.

 

[Seat0B]

Thanks. I have no issues in paying 2 x $300 for a different airline. I’m more not sure if I should wait in case flights do resume or just pull the trigger now and take the hit.

This really depends on your risk appetite and how you see the various trade offs.

If you book now on a different airline, you will have a lot more certainty that you will travel on your preferred dates to your destination. Let's call this Plan B. You could make a booking for a fare class that has low fees for cancellation, and then if your originally booked flights (Plan A) do go ahead, you cancel Plan B for not much financial damage. However, more flexible fares are likely to cost you more than less flexible ones, so you will probably be paying more for the replacement flights. To me, that is pretty cheap war insurance against the risks of not making a Plan B soon.

These risks, as I see them are:

• Plan A gets cancelled and you get a refund which is financially good, but leaves you no flights and thus without any ability to travel for your commitments - and perhaps with not much actual time until you were due to travel.
• Unless Plan A cancellation happens in a timely way (which is hard to know given the inherent uncertainty of this situation), you may not be able to find suitable alternative flights, or they may cost a great deal more than they currently cost.

I don't know how important it is that you make your commitments - only you know that. I also don't know how stressed you will feel with a high level of uncertainty over whether you have flights that will actually go or not. And I don;t know your financial situation as to how much you are willing to play chicken with the possible cost escalation of other flights if this thing goes on for a long time - balanced against th possibility of flights being cheaper if no one wants to fly, or even no needed if your Plan A flights happen. It's a devillish set of decisions in uncertainty and volatility for sure.

I know in my case (getting Seat Son and DIL to their wedding, and getting Seat Daughter and her family to her brother's wedding) I prefer a bit of certainty over losing some money. So we have made Plan B arrangements for both our kids because it matters to me. And of course, we are talking about the next 2 weeks, not quite as far in the future as your travel.

The question about status credits and FF points is also a consideration - of course you would like to maximise these, and you will have to balance up what that is worth to you in terms of paying more to fly on a suitable partner airline, modifying your travel dates etc.

Good luck, and report back what you decide to do please as it may help others make their decisions too.

And welcome to posting on AFF. Sorry about the circumstances.

 

[clifford]

Qatar Airways is currently operating limited flights via a safe corridor from Doha:

I think you'll need to define "safe".

 

[LionKing]

I think you'll need to define "safe".

I don't know what is safe under these circumstances, however QR website claimed those are safe corridors:

Following temporary authorisation from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority confirming a safe operating corridor

I didn't investigate further on the safety of the route.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think you'll need to define "safe".

I think the best we’re gonna get here is what was stated by an ‘aviation expert’ on the news last night which is … ‘acceptable risk’.

People can only decide for themselves whether they fly out now, or wait.

 

[LionKing]

I think the best we’re gonna get here is what was stated by an ‘aviation expert’ on the news last night which is … ‘acceptable risk’.

People can only decide for themselves whether they fly out now, or wait.

I feel if you choose to fly out of ME this week, there's a bit of a gamble, however at least there's an option for you to leave.