Thousands of flights have been disrupted as conflicts in the Middle East continue to escalate. Dubai's main airport - the world's busiest aviation hub - was effectively closed after a suspected airstrike. According to FlightAware data, more than 2,300 flights have been canceled from Bahrain to Tel Aviv in the past day, of which more than 90% of departure flights from Dubai International Airport have been cancelled. Dubai has been most affected, but flights to and from Doha and Abu Dhabi have also been severely affected.
Hundreds of thousands of people were stranded due to the region's role as a global super-hub that can connect any two points on the planet simply by stopping at airports such as Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi.
While the Persian Gulf region is used to disruptions and airspace has been restricted across large swaths of the Middle East on multiple occasions over the past two years, a sweeping regional grounding of this magnitude, lasting several hours, is unprecedented and underscores the stakes of Iran's conflict with Israel and the United States.
Emirates extended flight cancellations until Sunday morning, while Qatar Airways said it would suspend operations until further notice and would issue an update later. Etihad Airways said on Saturday it would suspend operations until at least Sunday afternoon.
Elsewhere, India's Civil Aviation Authority said local airlines canceled 410 flights on Saturday and expected to cancel 444 flights on Sunday.
Uncertainty about global travel is set to intensify as major Middle Eastern airports are unable to give a clear timetable for when operations will resume.