Some flights from the Middle East resumed in the wake of the strikes on Iran — but the process hasn’t been without confusion.
Fourteen Etihad Airways flights departed Abu Dhabi on Monday, even as the airline said operations remain suspended. Emirates, in neighboring Dubai, also announced it would operate a “limited number of flights.”
However, more missile threats forced diversions that night, or early Tuesday local time.
The first flight carrying passengers to leave the UAE since the attacks, an Etihad Airbus A380, departed for London Heathrow at 2:39 p.m. local time on Monday.
About an hour earlier, Etihad Airways had said in an X post that “all flights to and from Abu Dhabi are suspended.” Although the airport’s website had shown several flights available for check-in.
In a statement shared with Business Insider following the departures, Etihad said that flights returning people to their home countries — or delivering cargo or repositioning the airplane — could operate “subject to strict operational and safety approvals.”
Etihad and Emirates both said their scheduled commercial flights remain suspended until at least Thursday.
Emirates similarly said it will “operate a limited number of passenger repatriation and freighter flights” on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Interest in the flights was high among aviation enthusiasts, with over 100,000 people tracking both the first Etihad and Emirates flights out of the UAE on Flightradar24.
On Sunday, a Nepali national was killed, and seven people were injured by debris after an Iranian drone targeting Abu Dhabi airport was intercepted, officials said.
All flights from Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait remained suspended on Tuesday.
Two Etihad Cargo flights bound for Abu Dhabi diverted to Muscat, Oman, early Tuesday, according to data from Flightradar24. And an Emirates Airbus A380 from Mumbai was in a holding pattern off the coast, before making two U-turns and ultimately landing in Dubai around 3 a.m.
Reported attacks on the US embassy in Riyadh have sparked disruptions at an airport that had largely been running flights as normal.
Other airlines are similarly revving back up.
Saudia, AirSial, Fly Jinnah, and Flynas used the UAE’s airspace to fly between cities in Saudi Arabia and India on Monday night. Meanwhile, IndiGo, Royal Jordanian, Flydubai, and Air India airplanes took off from Dubai around the same time.
It’s unclear whether these flights carried passengers or were specially approved. The airlines didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A Lufthansa A380 was the first departure from Abu Dhabi on Monday, bound for Munich. However, an airline spokesperson told Business Insider that there were only two pilots on board.
That’s because the jet arrived in Abu Dhabi for maintenance three months ago, which has now been completed.
The spokesperson said Lufthansa reviewed the possibility of flying passengers, but they couldn’t fly in the necessary cabin crew due to the air traffic restrictions.
