Middle East Airspace Diversions/Cancellations

[RooFlyer]

For those who are considering booking their own Plan B flights, there is considerable movement in both availability and pricing, in short time frames.

I, or rather my travel agent found similar when I was booking my own plan B on TK about a month ago, related up thread.

Ex MXP to MEL, I could’ve saved $2000 if I could’ve flown a day before, on the same itinerary. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take advantage of that, but as you say keeping flexible opens up some opportunities.

 

[justinbrett]

This is kind of the attitude that Seat Son has too. I personally think they are drinking the KoolAid. Any conversation that includes “they are intercepting most of the missiles anyway” or “those drones are a few k from my place” does not make me feel better

Censored war: the crackdown on journalists is intensifying from the Gulf to Jordan

Since the start of the US-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Iranian strikes against countries in the region, especially Gulf states and Jordan, their governments have stepped up their crackdown on the media and tightened the noose even more around journalists in...

rsf.org

Dubai's 'cringe' influencers have a new rule: Don't mention the war

As missiles and drones began lighting up the sky over Dubai, many of the city's social media personalities started posting about it. Then the government stepped in.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Rembrandt]

QR seems to be promoting that they will have 120 destinations back in operation by mid May. Lets hope so, but it's just a wild guess at this stage.

Well regarding this. QR seem to be giving mixed messages as my QR flight in mid May from Zagreb to Melb via Doha is now affected:

"Unfortunately, your upcoming flight to Doha has been cancelled due to reduced flying capacity caused by the ongoing situation in the Middle East. We understand this is inconvenient and sincerely apologise for the disruption to your travel plans.

Our teams are working to arrange recovery flight options for affected customers on the limited Qatar Airways flights that are still operating. As soon as suitable alternative arrangements are confirmed, we will send you an updated itinerary."

In the interim I'm on hold with VA trying to get my points credited for the QR flight to Europe I cancelled over a week ago. Rather pathetic IMHO. I understand it can take weeks to refund money, but points....

 

[RooFlyer]

Censored war: the crackdown on journalists is intensifying from the Gulf to Jordan

Since the start of the US-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Iranian strikes against countries in the region, especially Gulf states and Jordan, their governments have stepped up their crackdown on the media and tightened the noose even more around journalists in...

rsf.org

Dubai's 'cringe' influencers have a new rule: Don't mention the war

As missiles and drones began lighting up the sky over Dubai, many of the city's social media personalities started posting about it. Then the government stepped in.

www.abc.net.au

Well, probably, ( Al Jezeera certainly) but I don’t think SeatSon in conversation with family nor the couple I spoke to fall into either of those categories. Despite what the press says, it seems you can be fairly chill in the midst of a war.

I believe those I speak to with first hand experience over anything the press may say.

 

[Saab34]

Chinese carriers continue to cut demand across May/June. China Eastern/Xiamen have pulled a whole lot of Melbourne/Sydney/Auckland capacity.

China Southern delaying its Darwin route and changing it to one weekly.

Jetstar continuing to pull back May/June capacity. My parents have two flight changes arrive today. AVV-BNE and OOL-CNS. Moving from two to one daily it seems.

 

[stu961]

There's no insurance for war if already travelling and it erupts suddenly which is pretty poor. Hardly a known event at time of commencement.

Well, probably, ( Al Jezeera certainly) but I don’t think SeatSon in conversation with family nor the couple I spoke to fall into either of those categories. Despite what the press says, it seems you can be fairly chill in the midst of a war.

I believe those I speak to with first hand experience over anything the press may say.

I'll take first hand any day of the week.... the rest are just "on the sell side"

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'll take first hand any day of the week.... the rest are just "on the sell side"

Agree.

We know from other posts on AFF that not all EK flights to Australia are full. So that means any aussies wanting to come home have come home. None are ‘stranded’.

Those choosing to stay probably have the best feel for the situation and risks.

 

[justinbrett]

Well, probably, ( Al Jezeera certainly) but I don’t think SeatSon in conversation with family nor the couple I spoke to fall into either of those categories. Despite what the press says, it seems you can be fairly chill in the midst of a war.

I believe those I speak to with first hand experience over anything the press may say.

To an extent. I think the full picture of what is going on in the UAE would shock many here, if the same situation was occurring in any western country airline travel would be grounded indefinitely. Many competing priorities on display there.

I have lived in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) in the last decade. Even before the war there is a lot going on that is kept quiet (eg modern day slavery) as well as the government participating in military conflicts that its citizens would definitely not support, but it’s all kept quiet. I think long term residents would probably know there’s more going on than the government is telling them, but some of that demographic who live there probably elect to be blissfully ignorant (as demonstrated by the “influencers”).

As for SeatSon, I did a deployment to Kandahar and the base had frequent rocket attacks. Mum didn’t hear anything about that - nobody wants their Mum to worry about them, you tell them what you need to so they can chill, but not necessarily you. Im not suggesting that living in the UAE is comparable to Afghanistan just that children don’t usually tell the parents the full story. That said if I was living in the UAE now I’d probably be feeling comfortable as well.

 

[ellen10]

My friends niece works for Goldman Sachs in Dubai. A few weeks ago they flew her home to Australia. They have rented an apartment for her and she works from home. This arrangement is for at least 3 months at this stage.

She said they offered to fly lots of international citizens home to their country of origin. They would prefer for them to be out of the UAE at this stage.

 

[kelvedon]

Nephew works for one of the big 4 accounting firms in Dubai. No intention of relocating. His boss said “try not to get killed, it would be very inconvenient for the clients”

 

[aussieboozer]

Qatar announced the resumption of flights to BNE from 16th of May, no news about ADL or CBR yet.

EK is back to 70% of pre-war frequency from today but sounds like it'll take a while for QR to return back to normal.

EK is not flying in or out of BNE yet either. I need to be in Rome on 29/5 to join my brother who is flying SQ from Sydney on a 21 day trip through Italy & Germany then fly home from Berlin. Already booked with QR and can't afford the extra $6-7K to get a J seat that avoids the gulf. Thinking of booking on EK out of Sydney or Melbourne for the same cost as what I paid for QR. Am I mad or is this more likely to be successful than hoping QR restore flights in time.

 

[arrow]

EK is not flying in or out of BNE yet either. I need to be in Rome on 29/5 to join my brother who is flying SQ from Sydney on a 21 day trip through Italy & Germany then fly home from Berlin. Already booked with QR and can't afford the extra $6-7K to get a J seat that avoids the gulf. Thinking of booking on EK out of Sydney or Melbourne for the same cost as what I paid for QR. Am I mad or is this more likely to be successful than hoping QR restore flights in time.

Lots of people are traveling via North America which could be a cheaper option albeit a fair bit longer

 

[elanshin]

My friends niece works for Goldman Sachs in Dubai. A few weeks ago they flew her home to Australia. They have rented an apartment for her and she works from home. This arrangement is for at least 3 months at this stage.

She said they offered to fly lots of international citizens home to their country of origin. They would prefer for them to be out of the UAE at this stage.

I think this was an abundance of caution because a few weeks ago, there were very real talks of targeting finance industry from Iran if there was continued escalation.

Many firms most likely did a very quick and serious risk assessment at that point and likely offered its workers alternatives until things boiled over.

 

[ellen10]

I think this was an abundance of caution because a few weeks ago, there were very real talks of targeting finance industry from Iran if there was continued escalation.

Many firms most likely did a very quick and serious risk assessment at that point and likely offered its workers alternatives until things boiled over.

The Niece is very happy to be home for a while close to family and friends and all paid for.
She had only been in Dubai about a year, previously in London. But she does like the Dubai lifestyle and money!

 

[dajop]

EK is not flying in or out of BNE yet either. I need to be in Rome on 29/5 to join my brother who is flying SQ from Sydney on a 21 day trip through Italy & Germany then fly home from Berlin. Already booked with QR and can't afford the extra $6-7K to get a J seat that avoids the gulf. Thinking of booking on EK out of Sydney or Melbourne for the same cost as what I paid for QR. Am I mad or is this more likely to be successful than hoping QR restore flights in time.

Other option if you don’t mind to slum it for the first 5-6hrs is to purchase something out of Bali . Still can get ME avoiding fares from there for not unreasonable prices on VN and Chinese carriers.

 

[Seat0B]

To an extent. I think the full picture of what is going on in the UAE would shock many here, if the same situation was occurring in any western country airline travel would be grounded indefinitely. Many competing priorities on display there.

I have lived in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) in the last decade. Even before the war there is a lot going on that is kept quiet (eg modern day slavery) as well as the government participating in military conflicts that its citizens would definitely not support, but it’s all kept quiet. I think long term residents would probably know there’s more going on than the government is telling them, but some of that demographic who live there probably elect to be blissfully ignorant (as demonstrated by the “influencers”).

As for SeatSon, I did a deployment to Kandahar and the base had frequent rocket attacks. Mum didn’t hear anything about that - nobody wants their Mum to worry about them, you tell them what you need to so they can chill, but not necessarily you. Im not suggesting that living in the UAE is comparable to Afghanistan just that children don’t usually tell the parents the full story. That said if I was living in the UAE now I’d probably be feeling comfortable as well.

Pretty sure you’ve nailed what’s going on there @justinbrett! That said, he’s quite happy to be able to “work from home” this coming week with permission from his work from Cape Town. They have all been told to expect maybe a further extension of that.

I think the situation is that news/information is not as free as it is here, and also that he has a higher risk threshold than I do for these things. Once a mum, always a mum - even when your baby is an adult.