Heathrow and Gatwick flights from Middle East still mostly cancelled – 4 scheduled on Tuesday

Heathrow and Gatwick flights are slowly resuming from Middle East with four set to bring stranded Brits back to the UK today (Tuesday, March 3) but the vast majority of departures remain cancelled. The conflict between Iran and the US and its allies has caused widespread airspace closures in the Middle East, sparking major disruption to flights.

About half a million passengers per day use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, which are vital hubs for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia. It is likely to take several days to clear the backlog of passengers.

It has been confirmed that Emirates plans to operate two flights to Heathrow and one each to Gatwick and Manchester today. At least some of these flights will be operated by the airline’s A380 jets, which can each carry up to 615 passengers depending on how they are configured. Emirates usually operates 146 weekly flights to the UK, which is the equivalent of about 21 per day.

Etihad Airways has scheduled one UK flight on Tuesday, from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow. This is with a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, which has 336 passenger seats.

British Airways cancelled its timetabled flights to Heathrow from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha and Dubai on Tuesday while Virgin Atlantic axed a flight from Dubai to Heathrow.

Qatar Airways – which usually serves Heathrow and Gatwick from Qatar – said on Tuesday morning that its operations remain suspended because of the closure of Qatari airspace. Posting on X, a Qatar Airways spokesperson said: “Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace. A further update will be provided on March 4 by 9am Doha time.

“All passengers are advised to monitor the latest flight information via http://qatarairways.com or the Qatar Airways mobile app. For passengers currently in Doha, or for booking assistance, please visit our official updates page: http://qatarairways.com/travelalerts.”

Sir Keir Starmer has said the Government is “looking at all options to support our people” as a flight from Abu Dhabi landed in London on Monday evening. Etihad Airways flight EY67, carrying stranded UK nationals, departed from the United Arab Emirates capital landed at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 at 7.17pm, according to flight tracking company Flightradar24.

The Prime Minister said the situation on the ground “may remain challenging for some time” but that the Government was “looking at all options to support our people”. He told the Commons: “We’re asking all British citizens in the region to register their presence so we can provide the best possible support and to monitor the Home Office travel advice, which is being regularly updated.

“Across much of the region, airspace remains closed, and local authorities are advising individuals to shelter in place. The situation on the ground may remain challenging for some time, so we’re sending rapid deployment teams to the region to support our British nationals on the ground.

“And we’re in close contact with the travel industry and governments in the region, including with our friends in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), given the concentration of British nationals in that country, and we’re looking at all options to support our people. We want to ensure that they can return home as swiftly and safely as possible.

“The FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) phone lines are open to provide consular support, and ministers are available to meet MPs to discuss any individual cases.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper indicated that 102,000 British nationals had registered their presence in the region. She said a total of about 300,000 British citizens were in Gulf countries targeted by Iran.

British nationals are being advised to follow the instructions of local authorities and monitor the Foreign Office’s travel advice, which officials expect to change rapidly. Those in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE have been urged to register their presence with the Foreign Office online.