More repatriation flights as Middle East airspace shutdown leaves thousands stranded

By Joanna Plucinska, Federico Maccioni and Julie Zhu

LONDON/DUBAI/HONG KONG, March 4 (Reuters) – Dozens of repatriation flights were due to depart from the Middle East on Wednesday as governments rushed to bring home tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the intensifying U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran.

Commercial air traffic remained largely absent across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs – including Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers – largely shut for a fifth straight day, in the biggest travel disruption since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first repatriation flights for Britain and France were due to leave on Wednesday, while the United Arab Emirates opened safe air corridors to allow some citizens to return home. Under normal circumstances, thousands of commercial flights would depart the region each day.

Some marooned tourists and expatriates have also tried to make their own way out.

“We’re doing this cautiously,” said French Finance Minister Roland Lescure. The French government said several repatriation flights were planned for Wednesday for its citizens, around 400,000 of whom are in the region.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday he had authorized the use of military aircraft to support the evacuation of Polish citizens from the Middle East.

Britain’s Foreign Office said a charter flight would leave Oman on Wednesday evening, with priority given to vulnerable British nationals.

Emirates, the world’s largest international carrier, said routes to and from Dubai remained suspended until March 7, adding that it was operating a limited schedule from Dubai International and Al Maktoum International.

The Czech Republic has organised three government evacuation flights from Oman, Jordan and Egypt, bringing home 175 people, with more operations planned. Airline Smartwings is also operating return flights from Oman and Dubai, according to the CTK news agency and a government official.

Slovakia said it had evacuated 127 people – mostly Slovak citizens, along with four Czechs and one Kazakh national – on two flights from Jordan that landed on Tuesday, and was preparing additional missions.

New Zealand said a total of 121 repatriation flights were expected to depart Dubai International Airport on Wednesday.

Qantas, meanwhile, was running extra flights to bring British people stuck in Australia back home, but would have to route them via a refuelling stop in Singapore as an alternative to the normal Middle East hubs.

With airspace severely constrained, many airlines are carrying extra fuel or making additional refuelling stops to guard against sudden rerouting or longer flight paths through safer corridors.

Air France said on Wednesday it had extended its suspension of flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until March 6, and had also prolonged the halt on services to Tel Aviv and Beirut until March 8.

Airline shares were less volatile on Wednesday after double-digit percentage drops in the past few days, which wiped tens of billions of dollars from airlines’ market value.

Lufthansa was up 3% at 1306 GMT, while Qantas closed down 2.7%, having lost more than 10% of its value so far this week. BA-owner IAG was up 2%, having fallen more than 13% in the past three days.

Airline executives have said that crew and pilots are now scattered across the world, complicating the process of resuming flights when airspace reopens. Soaring prices of oil will also add to carriers’ costs. 

Analysts said flights will become more expensive if longer routes become the only options for international carriers.

The Gulf is also a major hub for air cargo, putting further pressure on international trade routes following the disruption of Red Sea shipping routes. 

Shares of U.S. carriers United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines were all up in morning trade.

ASIAN AIRLINE STOCKS 

Most Asian airline shares pared losses from earlier this week, though Korean Air Lines shares fell 7.9% after dropping 10.3% on Tuesday.

South Korea’s stock market was closed on Monday when most airline and travel stocks bore the brunt of the impact from the conflict.

Oil prices have risen sharply this week, with Brent crude oil up around 14% since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, potentially pushing up fuel costs for airlines. [O/R]

Hedging is expected to help mitigate some of the cost increases.

“Recent guidance indicates that the airlines have hedged around 50% of their jet fuel needs. In general, they should be able to pass through the balance of the price rise to passengers,” Lorraine Tan, director of equity research for Asia at Morningstar, said. 

(Reporting by Julie Zhu in Hong Kong, Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk, Lucy Craymer and Federico Maccioni in Dubai, Shivansh Tiwary and Roushni Nair in Bengaluru, Li Gu in Shanghai, Jason Hovet, Alan Charlish and Makini BriceWriting by Joanna Plucinska and Rajesh Kumar SinghEditing by Josephine Mason, Jane Merriman, Elaine Hardcastle)