grounded by force
The US-Israeli military offensive against Iran has forced the closure of key Middle Eastern airspace, paralysing hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. African airlines, heavily reliant on these transit points, have had to suspend or reroute connections to the region.
Since the United States and Israel launched a major military offensive against Iran on 28 February, triggering retaliation from Tehran, the skies over the Middle East have been virtually paralysed. Several countries in the region – including Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain – have closed all or part of their airspace.
Operations at major hubs, including those in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, have been halted, leaving tens of thousands of connecting passengers stranded and testing the flight schedules of African and Gulf carriers.
As of 2 March, with the main Gulf hubs remaining closed or only partially reopened, cargo and evacuation flights have begun taking off from some hubs like Abu Dhabi. Several airlines state they are “working with authorities to resume flights as soon as security conditions allow”.
Cairo: The substitute hub
For African carriers, these disruptions have rapidly led to mass cancellations or rescheduling of services to the Middle East. EgyptAir, the Egyptian national carrier, is by far the hardest hit by the aviation crisis sparked by the Israeli-US offensive. Cairo, Africa’s busiest airport with 30.9 million passengers in 2025, handles EgyptAir’s massive flows to the Gulf: flights to 11 regional destinations, including Beirut, Baghdad and Bahrain, transit there daily.
In a statement on 27 February, the Egyptian flag carrier justified the indefinite suspension by citing “the military escalation and its direct impact on regional air navigation”. A hotline is assisting passengers with rerouting, rescheduling or full refunds.
Egypt has emerged as a temporary hub. Although its links to conflict zones are suspended, Egyptian airspace remains open. Of the roughly 100 flights scheduled for 28 February, only 47 EgyptAir flights were cancelled.
Egyptian airports have received about 30 diverted flights following neighbouring airspace closures. The safer Egyptian airspace is also serving as an alternative for flights to Asia.
Cancellations in the Maghreb and Addis Ababa
Another giant affected is Ethiopian Airlines. The carrier, which provides connections to Amman, Tel Aviv, Dammam and Beirut, announced that “due to the security situation in the Middle East, Ethiopian Airlines is cancelling certain flights to and from the region”, halting several rotations while emphasising real-time monitoring of events to guarantee passenger and crew safety.
In the Maghreb, Royal Air Maroc has reduced flights to the Middle East, with cancellations and aircraft turnarounds due to airspace closures, severely disrupting traffic between Casablanca and Gulf hubs (Doha and Dubai) – essential transit points for sub-Saharan Africa.
Air Algérie has followed suit, suspending flights to key destinations such as Jordan, the UAE and Qatar, explaining the decision resulted from “the effective closure of several airspaces in the region for security reasons”.
Gulf airlines suspended
Gulf carriers, which account for a significant share of global traffic between Asia, Africa and Europe, have been deeply affected. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have suspended operations, while Turkish Airlines has cancelled numerous flights. The absence of these four carriers alone drastically reduces African air capacity. While they prioritise flights to their respective hubs, these flag carriers offer Africans a wide choice for travel to the Americas, Asia and Europe.
During Israeli attacks in Gaza, authorities had banned civil flights from accessing certain areas. Similarly, during the Russia-Ukraine war, airspace over combat zones was initially closed for months, forcing airlines to alter routes. In Africa, during conflicts such as that in Darfur, Sudan, flight suspensions were implemented to ensure air safety.
The closures and suspensions are having severe consequences for African connectivity. Traditional links between the continent and Asia or Europe, which often transit through Gulf hubs, are severely disrupted. This increases travel times, forces longer alternative routes and puts pressure on African airports, which at times absorb diverted flights or accommodate transit passengers.
