With 38 countries around the world <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/travel/the-38-countries-where-commercial-passenger-flights-have-been-grounded-due-to-the-coronavirus-1.996215">grounding flights</a> completely, and dozens more reducing schedules by up to 90 per cent, airports have become backed up with planes unable to take to the skies. Images from some of the world’s busiest airports show dozens of air crafts parked up on abandoned runways, or docked at unused gates. Pictures from Hong Kong International Airport show Cathay Pacific planes parked up at the side of the runway, while in Singapore, dozens of carriers including Scoot and Singapore Airlines lay unused. In Dubai, the main hub for Emirates Airlines, dozens of the carrier's jets can be seen docked at the airport’s main terminal, with all passenger flights into and out of the UAE grounded for 14 days from Wednesday, March 25. The grounding of passenger flights was brought forward by 48 hours in a last-minute decision by the General Civil Aviation Authority. They were initially due to be stopped at midnight on Thursday March 26. <strong>Scroll through our gallery above to see planes grounded at airports around the world. </strong> The global controls on flights are enforced to stem the spread of Covid-19 by air travel.
