NEWS FLASH
Flights between airports in the former Yugoslavia and the Gulf are resuming today following widespread disruption yesterday evening, which saw Qatar and several other states temporarily close their airspace. Qatar Airways has been most affected following an attempted attack on a US military base in the country. However, the airspace reopened after several hours, and the security situation has been normalised. Due to yesterday’s airspace closure many flights were diverted which is having an impact on traffic today with several services delayed.
Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates also briefly closed its airspace, as did Kuwait and Bahrain.
Disruptions on Monday, June 23
• Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Belgrade - Abu Dhabi (5W7044), diverted back to Belgrade
• Flydubai, Belgrade - Dubai (FZ1746), diverted to Riyadh
• Kuwait Airways, Sarajevo - Kuwait City (KU126), diverted to Cairo
• Qatar Airways, Belgrade - Doha (QR232), diverted to Dammam
• Qatar Airways, Zagreb - Doha (QR218), diverted to Medina
All the diverted flights eventually arrived at their destination.
Today, Qatar Airways cancelled its services from Doha to Belgrade and Zagreb following several hours of delays as the airline attempts to stabilise its network. However, its Sarajevo service departed, albeit several hours behind schedule. The airline recently rescheduled some services to the former Yugoslav markets, mostly by under an hour, to account for extended flight times resulting from the closure of Iranian airspace. Aircraft are now rerouted over Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, adding to overall journey durations.
Qatar Airways confirms reinstatement of flights as airspace reopens in the State of Qatar.
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) June 23, 2025
Our focus at this time is to help our passengers return home or reach their onward journey safely and smoothly.
We’ve deployed extra ground staff at Hamad International Airport to support…
Good overview. Thanks. Hoping things calm down now.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what if these closures will become regular? Will it break Gulf airlines business model?
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the flight from Skopje, did it divert as well? :)
ReplyDeleteThere are no flights from Skopje to Gulf region.
DeleteIf I am not mistaken, QR232 from Belgrade was the second aircraft to touch down at Doha once Qatar airspace opened. I wonder if pax were able to exit the aircraft in any of these airports and what they have been up to. Medina sounds cool as an unexpected visit, Cairo as well.
ReplyDeleteIn most cases people were on the plane for the first two hours, then they let them off and they waited at the departure gate at the terminal.
DeleteWizz Air's Sarajevo-Abu Dhabi flight also returned to Sarajevo from over Egypt.
ReplyDelete