Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
With tensions escalating across West Asia, large swathes of its airspace became a no-go zone, forcing airlines to cancel flights to the region and reroute other westbound flights to avoid the affected corridors.
Iran and Israel closed their airspace at the start of the day, with other countries in the region, including Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq and Oman, quickly following suit. A time-lapse from FlightRadar24 initially showed an empty corridor of airspace between Iran and Israel, which gradually expanded as more countries across the region imposed restrictions.
Air India Group, which also includes its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express, as well as IndiGo announced they were cancelling all their flights to West Asia. Dammam, Sharjah, Riyadh Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Muscat, Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait City. Akasa said it was suspending all its flights to Abu Dhabi, Doha and Jeddah
Also read: Israel-Iran conflict LIVE updates
Air India’s Delhi–Tel Aviv flight was forced to turn back early on Saturday (February 28, 2026), while its Chicago–Delhi service took a longer routing to steer even farther clear of Iranian airspace, which it had already been avoiding.
Air India Express, which operates a large number of Gulf-bound services, cancelled around 110 flights to the region. Five of its aircraft remain stranded there, including one deployed on the Sharjah–Indore route.
Photo: Screengrab via Flightradar24
Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, S.K. Sinha held a review meeting on the impact on flights and passengers.
“Airports across the country, particularly major international gateways, have been placed on operational alert to manage potential flight diversions, unscheduled landings and passenger facilitation requirements. The Airports Authority of India and private airport operators have been advised to maintain enhanced coordination with airlines for ground handling, parking bays, passenger amenities, crew logistics and immigration support, as necessary,” a statement from the Ministry said.
Published – February 28, 2026 02:10 pm IST
