Some Middle East flights resume, but thousands of travelers are still stranded by war

Major airlines in the Middle East including FlyDubai, Emirates, and Etihad resumed limited flights on Monday, March 2, 2026, but hundreds of thousands of travelers remain stranded at aviation hubs across the region following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, which prompted Iranian strikes against civilian and military sites in Persian Gulf states. The escalating conflict has severely disrupted international travel, with over 3,400 flights canceled on Monday alone, bringing the total number of cancellations since the hostilities began to nearly 10,000. Tourists and business travelers like Kristy Ellmer from Portsmouth, N.H., who was in Dubai for business meetings, have been hunkering down in hotels and airports, facing daily cancellations with no clear end in sight. 'We've had flights booked every day for the week and Sunday was canceled. Monday was canceled. Tuesday's already been canceled,' Ellmer reported, expressing the frustration felt by many stranded passengers. Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha, which serve as critical hubs connecting Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, have been directly affected by the conflict. Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest, resumed operations with 'a small number of flights' on Monday evening after dramatic video showed passengers fleeing smoke-filled hallways following suspected drone strikes. Similarly, Abu Dhabi announced 'partial operations' with Etihad Airways among the first carriers to resume flights, while Doha's main airport remains temporarily suspended. The aviation analytics company Cirium estimates that approximately 90,000 passengers transit through the region's major hubs daily on just three airlines—Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways—highlighting the massive scale of the disruption. As long as air strikes and counter-strikes continue, more cancellations are likely, leaving stranded travelers from around the globe scrambling to make alternative plans while maintaining perspective on the broader human impact of the conflict.