Dubai Airport schedule chaos
Airlines continue to adjust schedules and issue travel advisories for Dubai International (DXB) as regional instability disrupts operations — major carriers told passengers to expect changes and check flights before travel . The disruption follows wider economic and security shocks in the Gulf that are already pressuring tourism and real‑estate narratives in Dubai .
DXB and Al Maktoum briefly shut for about 48 hours before limited operations restarted on March 2, 2026 after Iranian missile strikes prompted the closure. (world-arabia.com) Emirates published a reduced departures plan and described the restart as a “constrained” phased resumption on March 5, 2026. (adept.travel) Time Out’s March 13 roundup collected advisories from 11 major non‑Dubai carriers and showed a patchwork of route suspensions, repatriation flights and free rebooking options. (timeoutdubai.com) Air France suspended all flights to and from Dubai through March 14, while British Airways cancelled UAE routes until the end of March, per the same carrier updates. (timeoutdubai.com) Emirates and flydubai together operated roughly 138–141 and 64–65 departures respectively on March 12–13 — about 203 combined flights across those two days as carriers kept a core of long‑haul and regional services running. (loyaltylobby.com) The UAE tightened airport access rules on March 14, enforcing a “do not travel unless you have a confirmed ticket” policy at DXB/DWC to limit terminal congestion. (adept.travel) Market and sector signals showed immediate economic effects: the DFM General Index plunged into bear‑market territory, falling about 21% from its February high and dropping as much as 3.2% on March 16, 2026. (bloomberg.com) Airlines continued publishing rebooking/refund measures while some operators ran ad‑hoc repatriation services (Air India operated 36 ad‑hoc flights into Dubai on March 13), and Emirates’ travel‑updates page remained the live source for operational changes. (timeoutdubai.com)
