Air travel across the Middle East and beyond is facing yet another turbulent day, with a fresh round of cancellations hitting routes operated by Flydubai, Emirates, Lufthansa, United Airlines, Saudia and Royal Jordanian. At least 20 flights have been pulled from schedules, affecting links to Frankfurt, Minsk, Kuwait, Jeddah, Newark, Tel Aviv and other key hubs. For travelers with imminent plans in or through the region, the latest wave of disruption underscores how quickly conditions can change and why it is essential to stay alert, flexible and well informed.
What Happened: A New Round of Cancellations Across Key Routes
The latest disruption is part of a broader pattern of volatility that has roiled Middle East aviation since late January, driven by a mix of heightened regional tensions, shifting airspace restrictions and operational bottlenecks at major hubs. Data from regional aviation trackers on February 11, 2026, point to dozens of cancellations and more than a thousand delays across the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Türkiye, as airports in Dubai, Amman, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, Dammam, Kuwait City and Istanbul struggle to absorb sudden schedule changes.
Within that wider turmoil, at least 20 flights operated by Flydubai, Emirates, Lufthansa, United, Saudia and Royal Jordanian have been canceled or removed from today’s and upcoming rotations. These cuts are disproportionately concentrated on high-profile city pairs that serve as lifelines for business and transit traffic: Frankfurt in Germany, Minsk in Belarus, Kuwait City, Jeddah, Newark in the United States, Tel Aviv and several secondary regional destinations.
While each airline is issuing its own operational rationale, a common thread runs through the cancellations: evolving security guidance linked to regional tensions, coupled with congested alternative corridors as carriers reroute around restricted airspace. This combination has left networks operating with very little slack, meaning that small shocks can translate into widespread knock-on disruption.
Airlines in the Spotlight: How Each Carrier Is Adjusting
Flydubai continues to be among the most visible carriers affected. In recent months, the airline has repeatedly adjusted its schedule in response to temporary airspace closures, suspending services to destinations such as Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria and Minsk, with limited resumptions when conditions allow. The carrier has acknowledged that congestion in alternative air corridors is forcing ongoing cancellations, rerouting and substantial delays, particularly on longer flights that must detour around closed skies.
Emirates, the region’s largest long-haul airline, has also trimmed selected services, especially on overnight and high-risk routings. In earlier phases of the crisis, the airline suspended or retimed flights to Tel Aviv and Amman and adjusted frequencies to key Gulf and Levant gateways. With this newest round of cancellations, some passengers connecting through Dubai to European and North American destinations are finding their itineraries broken, with particular pressure on routes feeding into Germany and the eastern Mediterranean.
Lufthansa and other major European carriers have taken a conservative approach by restricting operations to daylight hours on certain Middle East routes and, in some cases, canceling flights outright when security assessments tighten. Services touching Israel and nearby hubs remain especially vulnerable. Flights between Frankfurt and Tel Aviv and between Frankfurt and key regional capitals are regularly among the first to be scrubbed when airspace conditions deteriorate, and travelers have seen last-minute cancellations increasingly framed as safety-first decisions.
United Airlines has emerged as a bellwether among North American carriers. The airline has previously suspended flights into Tel Aviv and, at times, into Dubai and other Gulf gateways when conflict in the region intensified. More recently, it has canceled services such as Newark to Tel Aviv or onward Middle East routes at short notice when airspace restrictions or security concerns have spiked, reinforcing the perception that transatlantic links into the region can no longer be assumed to operate uninterrupted.
Routes Most Affected: Frankfurt, Minsk, Kuwait, Jeddah, Newark and Tel Aviv
Although the day’s tally of at least 20 canceled flights might appear modest on a global scale, the impact is magnified by the strategic importance of the routes involved. Frankfurt is one of Europe’s preeminent intercontinental hubs, and cancellations there affect not only point-to-point travelers but also passengers connecting to North America, Africa and Asia. Flights between Frankfurt and Middle Eastern cities such as Tel Aviv, Amman and Gulf capitals are particularly exposed, as airlines weigh the operational complexity of rerouting around restricted airspace.
Minsk represents a different kind of vulnerability. While not a large global hub, the Belarusian capital has been a niche but important destination for carriers such as Flydubai. When services to Minsk are suspended or canceled, alternatives can be limited, often forcing travelers to backtrack through larger hubs or to use multi-stop itineraries via cities like Istanbul, Warsaw or Vienna. This not only increases travel time but can also introduce visa and cost complications.
Within the Gulf, Kuwait City and Jeddah continue to experience waves of disruption as carriers recalibrate their networks. Kuwait is a crucial oil and business hub as well as a stepping stone for South Asian and European traffic, while Jeddah serves as a primary gateway for religious travel and regional connectivity within Saudi Arabia. When Saudia, Flydubai, Emirates or other carriers cut frequencies to these cities, local travelers quickly feel the squeeze, and connecting options for long-haul passengers narrow.
Transatlantic links are also under acute strain. Newark, one of United Airlines’ main East Coast hubs, is the origin or endpoint for much of the North American traffic bound for the Middle East. When Newark flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai or other regional hubs are pulled from the schedule, the resulting disruption cascades through entire itineraries, often affecting travel to onward destinations in Africa or South Asia that rely on a Middle East stopover. Tel Aviv itself remains one of the hardest-hit airports, with multiple carriers curbing or suspending flights as they respond to shifting security assessments.
Why This Is Happening: Security, Airspace and Operational Pressures
The immediate catalyst for many of the cancellations continues to be security-related. Regional tensions and intermittent flare-ups have led aviation regulators and airlines to avoid certain flight paths, especially those traversing or approaching sensitive airspace. As carriers like Emirates, Lufthansa, United and Flydubai reroute around these zones, flights become longer and require more fuel, additional crew hours and complex schedule tweaks.
These operational challenges are occurring in an environment where global aviation remains finely balanced. Aircraft utilization is high, spare capacity is limited and ground resources at major hubs are stretched. When an airline is forced to add extra flying time to a route because it must detour, it may quickly run into hard limits on crew duty hours or aircraft availability, prompting last-minute cancellations of less critical flights to free up assets.
Weather and airport-specific factors add another layer of complexity. Fog, seasonal storms and congestion at busy hubs can further squeeze operations that are already operating on thin margins. Every delayed arrival into a hub like Dubai or Frankfurt ripples outward in the form of missed departure slots, boarding delays and, eventually, tactical cancellations that airlines use as pressure valves to prevent system-wide gridlock.
Behind the scenes, airline operations centers, national aviation authorities and air traffic controllers are in constant communication, updating risk assessments and adjusting routings hour by hour. For passengers, however, these technical decisions manifest as abrupt schedule changes that can feel random, even when they are the product of carefully calibrated risk management.
What Travelers Are Experiencing on the Ground
For travelers, the human impact of these decisions is immediate and often stressful. Airports such as Dubai International, Amman’s Queen Alia, Cairo International and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion have reported crowded departure halls, long customer service lines and stretched seating as passengers wait for rebooking options. Families returning from holidays, business travelers trying to make meetings and transit passengers on complex multi-stop journeys are all competing for limited seats on remaining services.
At check-in counters and boarding gates, airline staff are fielding a surge of inquiries while working with incomplete information. Because flight status can change rapidly as new security guidance emerges, many passengers report learning about cancellations only a few hours before departure. While most carriers offer rebooking on the next available flight, that “next available” option can be many hours or even days away on heavily trafficked routes.
Some travelers are also confronting the cost of disruption. Although airlines generally cover basic care and assistance during extended delays, including meals and hotel stays when required by local regulations or carrier policy, additional expenses such as missed prepaid hotel nights, tour bookings or non-refundable tickets on connecting legs may fall to passengers. Insurance coverage is uneven, with some policies treating security-related airspace closures as force majeure events that limit payouts.
Frequent travelers through the region are adapting by building in longer connection times, booking refundable tickets where possible and maintaining backup plans, including alternative routings via less affected hubs in Europe or Asia. Still, the unpredictability of day-to-day operations means even the best-laid plans can unravel with little warning.
How to Protect Your Trip if You Are Affected
For anyone booked in the coming days on Flydubai, Emirates, Lufthansa, United, Saudia or Royal Jordanian flights touching Frankfurt, Minsk, Kuwait, Jeddah, Newark, Tel Aviv or neighboring hubs, proactive planning is now essential. The first step is to monitor your booking closely through your airline’s app or website, which typically provides the earliest alerts on schedule changes. Enrolling in flight status notifications and ensuring that your contact details are up to date can make the difference between being notified early and learning of a cancellation at the airport.
If your flight is canceled, act quickly to secure alternative arrangements. Online rebooking tools are often faster than phone lines during peak disruption. If the airline offers a waiver allowing free changes or refunds, consider whether shifting your travel by a few days or routing through a different hub might significantly reduce your risk of further problems. Travelers with flexibility may find it advantageous to accept daytime flights or itineraries that avoid the most volatile airspace, even if that means longer overall travel times.
It is also wise to review the fine print of your ticket and any travel insurance policy. Some full-fare or flexible tickets allow changes without penalties, while basic economy or deeply discounted fares can be more restrictive. If you purchased coverage that includes trip interruption or cancellation due to security events or airspace closures, keep meticulous records of your expenses and communications with the airline, as insurers often require detailed documentation for claims.
For those who must travel regardless of conditions, such as business travelers with critical meetings or passengers returning home, working with a travel agent or corporate travel manager can provide additional options. These professionals may have access to inventory or routings not immediately visible to consumers and can help coordinate complex changes across multiple airlines or alliances when disruptions cascade.
What This Means for the Weeks Ahead
Looking beyond today’s cancellations, the outlook for Middle East and trans-regional air travel remains uncertain. Aviation authorities have indicated that certain security advisories and airspace restrictions are likely to remain in place at least through mid-February, with the possibility of extensions if tensions do not ease. Airlines will continue to adjust schedules dynamically, which means that further waves of cancellations or retimings are possible, particularly on routes into and out of Israel, the Gulf and the Levant.
For Flydubai, Emirates, Saudia and Royal Jordanian, the near-term challenge will be to balance safety-driven rerouting with the need to preserve connectivity across their networks. Long-haul links to Europe and North America are especially important, and airlines are likely to prioritize core trunk routes even if that means trimming less profitable or more operationally complex services, such as certain secondary cities or overnight flights that require extended detours.
European and North American carriers like Lufthansa and United will similarly be reassessing the viability of specific city pairs. If operational pressures and security considerations remain elevated, travelers could see more daylight-only operations, seasonal suspensions or reduced frequencies on select Middle East routes. Conversely, if conditions stabilize, airlines may gradually restore capacity, though likely with built-in margin to handle sudden changes.
For travelers planning spring and early summer journeys involving Frankfurt, Minsk, Kuwait, Jeddah, Newark, Tel Aviv or surrounding gateways, the most realistic approach is to assume continued volatility. Booking with flexibility in mind, staying informed in real time and preparing for potential last-minute changes will be crucial strategies for navigating a region where the skies, for now, remain anything but predictable.