UAE airlines' flights returning to normal after Iran attack disruption

UAE airlines announced the cancellation of some flights and the re-routing of others as multiple countries in the region closed their airspaces temporarily following Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel on Saturday.

As airspace began to reopen throughout Sunday, UAE airline schedules started to return to normal in the afternoon.

In a statement sent to ARN News on Sunday, Emirates Airline confirmed the cancellations of some flights, and rerouting of others "due to temporary airspace closures in the region from late evening of April 13 until the morning of April 14.  

"With the re-opening of these airspaces, we are resuming our scheduled operations to/from Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq from the afternoon of April 14," their statement read.

"We are closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the relevant authorities. Safety is always our top priority. Customers can check their flight status on emirates.com for the latest information."

Etihad Airways issued an updated statement to ARN News on Sunday afternoon. "Following the reopening of airspace in Israel and Jordan and other parts of the Middle East, Etihad Airways plans to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi and Amman and Abu Dhabi and Beirut on Monday, April 15.

"As services return to normal following disruption caused by the temporary closure of airspace across parts of the Middle East on Sunday, April 14, there may still be a risk of some knock-on disruption across Monday, April 15, and customers are urged to check the status of their flight on etihad.com before travel."

Earlier, a flydubai spokesperson, in a statement to ARN News, said "Due to the temporary closure of a number of airspaces last night, some of our flights on Sunday, April 14, to Iran, Iraq, Israel and Jordan have been cancelled. We continue to closely monitor the situation as the airspaces reopen and will make any amendments to our schedule accordingly.

"We are in direct contact with our passengers whose travel plans have been affected and we apologise for the inconvenience caused. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights on flydubai.com for the latest information regarding their flights."