UAE flights cancelled, rerouted after Iran's drone, missile attack on Israel

UAE-based airlines have cancelled some flights and re-routed others as multiple countries in the region closed their airspaces temporarily. Two Flydubai flights that took off for Amman, Jordan, and Tel Aviv, Israel, had to return to Dubai as a result.

This came as Iran began an airborne attack against Israel in retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven Revolutionary Guards officers.

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Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said it cancelled its services to Tel Aviv and Amman on Sunday, April 14, in response to the closure of airspaces in the region.

“The flights affected are EY593 from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Tel Aviv (TLV) and EY594 from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi, and the EY513 from Abu Dhabi to Amman (AMM) and the EY514 from Amman to Abu Dhabi,” a spokesperson for the airline told Khaleej Times in a statement.

The carrier said it is re-routing a number of its European and North American flights on Sunday to overfly Saudi Arabia and Egypt following “notification of the closure of airspace over Israel, Jordan and Iraq”.

“This is likely to cause some disruption and delay to a number of flights over the course of the day. This is a developing situation and the airline is continuously monitoring security and airspace updates,” the spokesperson added.

“Etihad Airways flights only operate through approved airspace. Safety is always our highest priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.”

The carrier advised customers to check the status of their flight on its website.

Dubai-based Emirates said it has cancelled some flights and rerouted others. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are making all efforts to ensure minimal disruption to customers, while assisting impacted passengers,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

Flydubai said some of its flights to Iran, Iraq, Israel and Jordan on Sunday were cancelled due to the temporary closure of a "number of airspaces last night".

"We continue to closely monitor the situation as the airspaces reopen and will make any amendments to our schedule accordingly," a spokesperson for the airline said. "We are in direct contact with our passengers whose travel plans have been affected and we apologise for the inconvenience caused."

Drone attack

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed Sunday that a drone and missile attack was under way against Israel. It said

“dozens” of missiles and drones had been fired at “specific targets”.

Israel, Iraq and Lebanon had shut off their airspaces as a precautionary measure as tensions soared. Egypt said its air defences were on “maximum alert”.

In a statement posted on X, Kuwait Airways said it is diverting all incoming and outgoing flights away from "areas of tension" in view of the security situation in the region.

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