Flights to the Middle East: What to know about air travel impacted by the Iran war

Thousands of airline flights to and from the Middle East have been canceled or otherwise impacted by airspace closures after last weekend’s strikes by Israel and the United States on Iran and Iran’s retaliation. Impacted airports serving Long Islanders include Kennedy and Newark.

Newsday is answering some key questions about the flight changes.

What airspaces are closed?

In a Tuesday blog post, flight tracking service Flightradar24 listed total airspace closures in Israel, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria and Jordan. While those closures were set to expire anytime from Tuesday through Saturday, "we expect airspace closures to be extended upon expiry," the flight service said. There were partial closures in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Jordan, while Oman airspace remained open.

What about people already overseas?

On Monday, the State Department warned Americans across much of the Middle East to leave immediately by "commercial means" because of safety risks. More than a dozen countries and territories were listed as unsafe, including Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Americans who need State Department help arranging travel can call the State Department at 202-501-4444 if abroad or 888-407-4747 if in the U.S. or Canada. Travelers may also visit step.state.gov to get security updates from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

What are the impacted airlines saying?

Delta said in a blog post that it had canceled flights from Kennedy to Tel Aviv through Sunday and from Tel Aviv to Kennedy through March 23. Delta is offering a travel waiver through March 31 to provide "flexible options" for impacted customers who wish to change their travel plans.

United has canceled flights between the U.S. and Tel Aviv and Dubai through March 11. Impacted flights include those to and from Newark. United is offering a travel voucher through March 31. The airline says it will contact travelers whose flights have been canceled. Travelers who plan to fly later in March or April should watch for updates from the airline.

American Airlines has issued travel warnings for passengers traveling to, from or through the Middle East, including Gulf states, Tel Aviv and Cairo in coming weeks. These warnings permit travelers to rebook certain upcoming flights, but the changes must be booked by March 15 for the Middle East, March 10 for Tel Aviv and Cairo.

Israeli carrier El Al said on Tuesday that, following the decision to reopen Ben Gurion Airport, it would "proactively assign our customers currently abroad to Recovery Flights back to Israel, according to the date of the original flight ticket and at no additional cost." When flights resume, New York will be a key gateway for Israelis returning to Israel, the airline said. Priority will go to passengers needing medical treatment in Israel and to pregnant women beyond the 32nd week of pregnancy, but a letter of medical necessity signed by a doctor must accompany a request for priority.

Emirates said on its website that all scheduled flights to and from Dubai were suspended through Wednesday, though a limited number of passenger repatriation and freighter flights would take place. Emirates asked customers to not go to the airport without notification from the airline or a confirmed booking. Impacted customers can rebook on an alternate flight leaving on or before March 20 or request a refund.

Etihad said all commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi were suspended through Thursday. Travelers on Etihad should not go to airports unless the airport has told them to do so. Travelers with tickets issued on or before Feb. 28 with travel dates up to March 10 can rebook on flights up to March 31. Passengers on flights through March 10 can request refunds.

How many flights in our area are impacted?

Shortly after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, flight tracker FlightAware listed 21 cancellations at Kennedy on airlines including Emirates, Delta, El Al, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air. FlightAware listed 9 cancellations at Newark on airlines including United.

What do travel experts say?

Rebecca Alesia, a luxury travel adviser with Wanderology, based in Locust Valley, said in the last few days she had arranged travel back to Long Island for a client in Egypt and made new plans in London and Paris for a family that had planned to visit Dubai. Other families hoping to visit Israel for Passover may not be able to do so, she said.

"People need to be flexible and patient with their travel plans," she said. That includes travelers with plans to seemingly unaffected regions, like the Caribbean, which could see added demand if safety concerns shift travel from impacted warm-weather destinations like Dubai and Mexico, where there was unrest after the killing of a drug cartel leader. Some disruptions could linger even after the end of hostilities. "All air travel is a bit of a domino effect," Alesia said.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.