Airspace hits long‑haul travel

Ngurah Rai (Bali) canceled 15 international flights between Feb. 28 and Mar. 2, affecting about 3,197 departing passengers and prompting Bali Immigration to issue emergency stay permits for stranded visitors. (visaverge.com) Industry trackers say “tens of thousands” of flights have been canceled or rerouted across Asia–Europe corridors since Feb. 28, with analysts singling out Thailand and Bali as the Southeast Asian markets most exposed to knock‑on effects. (asianews.network) Operational fallout at Gulf hubs has been large: Qatar Airways logged roughly 495 cancellations at Doha and Emirates cut about 61 flights at Dubai as carriers reshuffled networks. (airtraveler.club) Indian carriers documented heavy disruption too — around 350 domestic cancellations on March 1 and Air India suspended roughly 50 international services while adding technical refueling stops (Rome/Fiumicino) to some India–US/Europe services. (airhelp.com) Rerouting is lengthening sectors: operational reports show many Asia–Europe flights gaining 1.5–3 hours, and industry modelling estimates detours of 2–5 hours on more than 40 long‑haul routes, increasing fuel burn and crew/aircraft utilization strain. (airtraveler.club) (theflyingengineer.com) Carriers are using northern corridors over Central Asia or southern routings via Egypt and East Africa and, in some markets, consolidating frequencies and redirecting transfer traffic to alternative transit hubs such as Singapore and Seoul to preserve connectivity. (hindustantimes.com) (travelinglifestyle.net) Local authorities and tourism bodies report thousands affected in Bali and estimate roughly 8,500 tourists impacted in early March, even as some hotels report occupancy remaining above 80% by routing guests through alternative hubs. (dewata.news)