Airlines are largely operating as normal in the region, despite the recent escalation in fighting between the US and Iran that has affected some Gulf countries.
While there have been isolated reports of cancellations and delays, and at least one airline has cancelled services, the disruption is not widespread.
After a flare-up in recent days, the US launched a wave of heavy air strikes on Iran on Sunday night.
In response, Iran launched missiles and drones towards countries across the region. For the first time in months, the UAE issued a missile alert to residents on Sunday morning. Authorities said missile and drone threats were intercepted before entering its airspace.
Airports in the Emirates and around the region are, however, continuing to operate, and air-defence interceptions have not taken place inside areas flown by commercial aircraft, according to the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.
The lack of cancellations was most likely because the current attacks appeared to be focused primarily on military, rather than civilian targets, said David Bentley, the chief airports analyst for Capa - Centre for Aviation.
“It’s just military targets [now], which wasn’t the case first time round,” he told The National.
“Right from the start [of the conflict] commercial places were in the firing line as much as military ones.
"They [airlines] are hoping it will blow over pretty soon. First time round they were taken unawares. They didn’t know where it was going.”
Mr Bentley said the fact that many airlines had still not resumed operations to the Gulf region since they suspended them early on in the conflict was another factor explaining why there had not been immediate cancellations, because for these carriers, “there’s nothing to cancel”.
Dubai International Airport’s live flight updates indicated on Monday that the overwhelming majority of flights were leaving on time and that incoming flights were typically arriving as normal.
According to the FlightAware website, on Monday 1 per cent of services from the airport were cancelled and 12 per cent delayed, a figure not unlike those from major airports in other parts of the world at the same time.
“The key thing is security briefings [from the authorities],” John Strickland, a former airline executive who now runs JLS Consulting, told The National. “Airlines will not operate if they don’t get assurances from the relevant authorities that it’s safe to operate.”
Air Astana, an airline based in Kazakhstan, has cancelled it flights from Dubai to Almaty on Monday and Tuesday, while Astana to Dubai is cancelled on Tuesday.
“Due to the ongoing escalation of the situation in the Middle East, Air Astana is suspending flights to the United Arab Emirates,” the airline said.
Air Astana is offering passengers a full refund or a free booking until July 18 for another flight.
“Further chances to the flight schedule will be announced in due time,” the airline added. “Air Astana is closely monitoring the situation and addressing passenger repatriation issues.”
Some passengers have reported being affected by the recent military activity. Writing on X in the early hours of Monday, Ronnie Otieno, a passenger arriving in Doha, reported that “everyone’s phone was buzzing with emergency alerts”.
“Was on hold for 30 minutes plus before we could land,” he wrote.
Recent attacks by the US and Iran represent the largest upsurge in military activity since a cessation of hostilities was agreed between the two countries in mid-June.
Most Gulf airlines, having suffered significant disruption when the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran developed in late February, have returned to near-normal levels of activity.
With many countries entering their summer holiday period, now is one of the busiest times of the year for airports in the region.
Dubai International Airport previously said it expected more than 200,000 passengers to pass through the airport each day in early July.
Gulf airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, did not respond to requests for comment.
Despite several governments no longer advising against visiting the UAE, numerous airlines based outside the region have yet to resume operations to the country and other Gulf nations. These services were suspended when the conflict broke out more than four months ago.
For example, KLM, the Dutch airline, has cancelled flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until August 23 at the earliest. British Airways will not resume services to Dubai until October 25, around the time that Italy’s ITA Airways is set to begin flights.
“Airlines like BA have taken the decision to stay out of the region for now,” Mr Strickland said. “It’s something that will be kept under constant review.
“Dubai is somewhere BA would like to be. It’s a buoyant market. Currently displaced capacity has been redeployed to put on additional flights to India and the US. They won’t be able to undo that now.”
Mr Strickland noted it had recently become easier for travellers to get insurance for visits to or transits through the Gulf region, after governments, such as those in the UK and Australia, ending their advice against travelling to the region. Emirates airline also launched its own travel insurance for the region.
“There have been positive steps to ensure they can keep operating and give customer confidence,” he said.
