Published on : 24 Apr 2026
🔴 CONFIRMED DECISION — THURSDAY APRIL 24, 2026
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Bulletin | CZIB 2026-03-R6 — Conflict Zone Information Bulletin, Middle East & Persian Gulf |
| Today’s Decision | 🔴 EXTENDED — No content changes, full restriction maintained |
| New Validity | Extended beyond April 24 — next review date TBC |
| Countries Covered | Bahrain · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Jordan · Kuwait · Lebanon · Oman · Qatar · UAE · Saudi Arabia |
| Restriction Level | All altitudes, all flight levels — no partial lift |
| Ceasefire Status | 🔴 Expired April 22 — not renewed — Iran skipped Round 2 talks |
| Why Extended | Ceasefire collapse + ongoing missile/drone activity + no insurer conditions met |
| BA Return Date | July 1, 2026 (planned) — 1 daily flight, down from 3 — subject to further EASA review |
| KLM Suspension | Extended through June 14+ |
| Lufthansa Group | Suspended through May 31 (Eurowings through October 24) |
| Air France | Suspended through May 3 — earliest potential return |
| Emirates | ✅ Flying — 145–150 daily departures at 70% normal capacity |
| Qatar Airways | ✅ Flying — resumed Dubai and Sharjah service April 23 |
| Kuwait Airways | ✅ Reopening — Kuwait airspace reopened April 23, flights resume April 26 |
| Dubai Airport | ✅ Open — all 3 terminals operational |
| Best Option Now | Emirates · flydubai · Qatar Airways · etihad (check status) |
Today marks the EASA review date for its Conflict Zone Information Bulletin — the ruling that keeps European carriers grounded on Gulf routes. Whatever EASA decides, it will set the tone for how the rest of May looks for anyone flying to or through Dubai.
The outcome that was widely expected has been confirmed. EASA has updated its CZIB on Middle East airspace. The same advice stands to avoid airspace of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
The agency confirmed that no changes have been made to the content of the bulletin. The CZIB was originally issued on 28 February 2026, shortly after the United States and Israel conducted coordinated military strikes on targets inside Iran. Iran subsequently launched retaliatory attacks, prompting heightened concern over the safety of civil aviation across the region.
This is now the seventh consecutive extension of the bulletin since it was first issued on February 28. Every single review — March 2, March 6, March 18, March 27, April 10, April 24 — has produced the same result: extended, no content changes, same 11 countries, all altitudes. This is not a surprise. Given that the US–Iran ceasefire expired on April 22 without renewal, and Iran declined to attend the second round of talks in Islamabad, the conditions for any modification of the bulletin were never present at today’s review.
The most common misunderstanding passengers have about this crisis: the airlines are not choosing to stay grounded. They are legally and contractually prevented from flying. Their war-risk insurers are tied to EASA’s assessment. Until this advisory is lifted or modified, carriers like KLM cannot resume Gulf routes regardless of what they might want to do commercially.
For EASA to lift or significantly modify CZIB 2026-03-R6, three conditions need to simultaneously align. As of April 24, none of them have:
Condition 1 — Sustained geopolitical stability: The bulletin underscores that risks extend beyond Iran’s airspace to neighbouring states hosting US military bases or otherwise exposed to the conflict’s operational footprint. EASA notes that the presence of all-altitude air-defence systems, cruise and ballistic missiles, and military aircraft capable of interception significantly increases the risk of spill-over effects, misidentification, miscalculation, or interception failures across the region.
The ceasefire expired April 22. Iran’s parliamentary speaker described the US approach as “childish.” The US naval blockade of Iranian ports remains active. Another Iranian ballistic missile was intercepted over southern Turkey, with debris reported near the Syrian border. The UAE continued to briefly close its airspace during new missile and drone threats, reopening shortly afterwards. This reinforced the risk of sudden disruption even when the FIR was technically open. A drone strike hit a fuel storage tank at Kuwait, causing a fire. None of this constitutes the “sustained stability” EASA requires to ease an all-altitude advisory.
Condition 2 — War-risk insurance restoration: European carriers need three things to resume Gulf flights: EASA lifting or significantly easing the CZIB, war-risk insurers restoring affordable coverage, and a sustained period of stability — not just a two-week ceasefire that’s already showing strain. All three conditions need to align, and right now none of them have been fully met.
Even if EASA modified the bulletin tomorrow, war-risk insurers would not restore coverage instantaneously. Insurance markets move on sustained safety data, not single announcements. The practical lag between a EASA bulletin modification and airlines being able to fly commercially is a minimum of 2–4 weeks. This is why BA’s July 1 planned return date persists even in optimistic scenarios — it builds in the insurer timeline.
Condition 3 — Stable operational corridors: A route that is acceptable one day may become unusable the next if air defense postures, military activity, or access rules change. The agency’s instruction to use a current risk assessment for any operation in the allowed corridor above FL320 points to the speed with which conditions can shift. Travel Tourister The UAE’s pattern of brief airspace closures during missile alerts — reopening within hours — demonstrates exactly the kind of unpredictability that makes scheduled commercial airline operations impossible to plan around.
Current suspension: Through May 31, 2026 Planned return: July 1, 2026 — London Heathrow to Dubai, 1 daily flight each way (down from 3 pre-crisis) Doha suspension: Ends April 30 — earlier than Dubai, suggesting BA is tracking Doha recovery faster
British Airways: Suspended through May 31; planned return July 1 at one daily flight (down from three).
The July 1 BA return date is a commercial plan, not a confirmed schedule. It is contingent on EASA modifying the bulletin at a future review — most likely mid-May or early June. If the bulletin remains unchanged at the next review, July 1 moves. BA will not commit to crew rostering or seat sales for Dubai flights until they have written EASA clearance and confirmed insurer coverage.
If your BA flight to Dubai is between now and June 30: You are entitled to a full cash refund or fee-free rebooking. Log in to ba.com → Manage My Booking. Select the flight. The refund or rebook option will be visible. Do not call — online processing is significantly faster.
BA contact: ba.com/help | 0344 493 0787 (UK) | 1-800-247-9297 (US)
Current suspension: Extended — through June 14, 2026 (Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam) Position: KLM has made no public statement on a post-June 14 return date
KLM’s June 14 suspension date is the latest hard end-date the airline has published. But this date was set when the April 24 EASA review was expected to potentially ease the bulletin. With the bulletin extended again today, KLM’s June 14 date must be treated as subject to revision — not as a confirmed restart.
KLM’s Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam suspensions are confirmed through mid-June, but the airline has stated it will continue to monitor the situation and update bookings accordingly.
If your KLM flight is cancelled: Full refund or rebooking. Log in to klm.com → My Trips. KLM has been processing refunds within 7–10 business days for most passengers. Credit card refunds tend to arrive faster than bank transfers.
KLM contact: klm.com/travel/gb_en/travel-information/travel-alerts | 0800 056 1740 (UK) | 1-800-618-0104 (US)
Current suspension: Through May 31, 2026 (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, ITA Airways) Eurowings suspension: Extended through October 24, 2026 Position: No confirmed return date beyond May 31 for mainline Lufthansa
Lufthansa Group has suspended flights across much of the Middle East, with timelines stretching as far as October for some destinations. Services to Dubai and Tel Aviv are suspended until the end of May.
The Eurowings October 24 suspension is the most telling signal in the entire Gulf aviation crisis. Eurowings — Lufthansa’s leisure arm — has already priced in the assumption that the entire summer 2026 season is lost for Gulf routes. This is a commercial judgment: Eurowings does not believe Gulf flights will be operationally viable before the summer season ends. For passengers with Eurowings bookings to Dubai or anywhere in the Gulf through October 24, treat those bookings as cancelled and seek refunds now.
For mainline Lufthansa passengers: the May 31 date may hold if EASA modifies the bulletin at its next review in May. But with today’s extension, a further push to June 30 or beyond must now be considered the base case.
Lufthansa contact: lufthansa.com/help-and-contact | +44 371 945 9747 (UK) | 1-800-645-3880 (US)
SWISS contact: swiss.com/help | +41 44 564 3636
Austrian Airlines contact: austrian.com/help | +43 5 1766 1000
Current suspension: Through May 3, 2026 (Dubai, Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Beirut) Position: Earliest potential European carrier return — but May 3 was set assuming possible April 24 easing
Air France has halted flights to Dubai, Riyadh, Tel Aviv and Beirut until early May, citing security concerns and airspace closures.
Air France’s May 3 end date is the shortest suspension of any major European carrier — set when the April 24 review was expected to potentially produce a partial bulletin modification. With today’s extension unchanged, Air France will almost certainly announce a further suspension extension in the coming days. Passengers with Air France Dubai or Riyadh bookings between May 3–31 should treat those as high-risk and monitor airfrance.com for updates.
Air France contact: airfrance.com/help | +33 9 69 39 02 15 | 1-800-237-2747 (US)
While European carriers remain grounded, the Gulf’s own airlines never stopped — and several have been expanding service during the crisis.
✅ Emirates — Best option for Dubai travel
Emirates is currently operating approximately 145–150 daily departures from Dubai, serving roughly 125–127 of its normal 140+ destinations at approximately 70% of pre-crisis capacity. Exempt from the EASA bulletin as a UAE-based carrier.
Passengers with confirmed bookings between February 28 and September 15, 2026 can change their travel date once at no charge, with rebooking available through October 31. The airline also plans to expand its network to 150 destinations by June 16.
Emirates is the most important alternative for any passenger who needs to reach Dubai right now. It operates from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, and all major US, Canadian, and Australian gateway airports. It is exempt from the DXB foreign airline 1-flight-per-day cap. It is flying at 70% and expanding.
✅ Qatar Airways — Best option for Doha + connecting via Gulf
Qatar Airways resumed daily Dubai and Sharjah service on April 23, 2026. Damascus service follows from May 1.
Qatar Airways resumed Dubai service yesterday — April 23 — making it the first major non-UAE carrier to return to Dubai since the crisis began. With 108+ daily departures from Doha and direct European routes already restored, Qatar is the best connecting option for passengers who need to reach the wider Gulf region. British Airways’ own Doha suspension ends April 30 — a month earlier than its Dubai suspension — signalling that Doha is recovering faster than Dubai on the European carrier risk assessment.
✅ Kuwait Airways + Jazeera Airways — Kuwait reopens April 26
Kuwait announced the reopening of its airspace on Thursday evening, ending a nearly two-month suspension that began on February 28. Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways both resume flights from Kuwait International Airport on Sunday, April 26.
Kuwait is the most significant positive development in Gulf aviation today. The two-month closure of Kuwaiti airspace — one of the region’s most important transit FIRs — is now over. Kuwait Airways and Jazeera restart Sunday. This reopening also improves the routing options for Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad connecting through the northern Gulf, reducing congestion on southern diversion routes.
✅ flydubai — Budget option for Dubai
flydubai continues to operate from Dubai alongside Emirates. Budget-carrier passengers who previously used Air Arabia or low-cost European carriers for UAE travel can use flydubai for within-region connections.
✅ Gulf Air — Bahrain reconnected
Gulf Air has resumed flights at Bahrain International Airport after the airspace reopening. Bahrain’s reconnection provides an additional Gulf hub option for passengers transiting the region.
The UK–Dubai corridor is one of the most heavily travelled in the world — approximately 3.5 million passengers per year pre-crisis. All UK-regulated carriers (BA, Virgin Atlantic — which had already pulled Gulf services, Jet2 which does not fly Gulf routes) remain grounded under UK CHIRP guidance aligned with EASA. Your options right now:
Under UK261 and UK Package Travel Regulations 2018: if your BA Dubai booking is cancelled as part of a package holiday, your tour operator owes you a full package refund including accommodation and transfers — not just the flight. Contact your operator before contacting BA.
No major US carrier operates direct Dubai services — the US–Gulf market is predominantly served by Emirates (from New York JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Boston, Washington Dulles, Seattle, Orlando and more) and Qatar Airways connecting through Doha. US passengers are therefore largely unaffected by the EASA bulletin in terms of their own carrier’s operations.
The key impact for US passengers: if you are booked on a European carrier for a connecting itinerary through London, Frankfurt, Paris, or Amsterdam that includes an onward leg to Dubai — that onward leg is cancelled. Your European carrier owes you a rebooking or refund on the affected segments.
US passengers flying to UAE or wider Gulf: Emirates remains your most reliable option. Book direct at emirates.com. United and American Airlines do not operate direct Gulf routes.
Air Canada does not operate direct Dubai services — Canada’s Gulf traffic primarily flows through Emirates from Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal. Canadian passengers are operationally unaffected by the EASA bulletin directly but face the same issue as US passengers on European carrier connecting itineraries.
Air Canada has suspended its Gulf routes through September 7, 2026 — meaning even if you are booked on Air Canada with a connection that transits Dubai, that service is not operating. Rebook through Emirates or Qatar Airways.
Australia–Dubai is the world’s longest scheduled passenger route and one of the most important Emirates corridors globally. Emirates operates from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide to Dubai daily. Australian passengers are operationally unaffected by the EASA bulletin as Emirates is not an EU-regulated carrier.
The impact for Australians: if you are booked on Qantas through Dubai on a codeshare with Emirates, your codeshare booking remains valid only if Emirates continues operating the sector. Qantas is rerouting European services via Singapore rather than Dubai — check your Qantas itinerary if you have a European connection booked through Dubai.
You are owed, with no exceptions:
✅ Full cash refund — to your original payment method, within 7 business days (EU261) / 7 days (UK261). The airline cannot offer only a voucher. It cannot make you rebook if you don’t want to.
✅ Fee-free rebooking — if you would prefer to keep your Dubai or Gulf trip on a later date, the airline must rebook you at no extra charge to any available flight to the same destination once services resume.
✅ No cash delay compensation (EU261) — the cancellation is caused by an extraordinary circumstance (war/conflict zone). The €250–€600 fixed cash compensation does not apply to conflict-zone cancellations. Only refund and rebooking are owed.
If you booked a package holiday to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, or anywhere in the Gulf through a UK or EU tour operator — your rights are stronger than flight-only passengers.
Under UK Package Travel Regulations 2018 and EU Package Travel Directive 2015/2302:
✅ Full refund of the complete package price — including hotel, transfers, excursions, and any non-refundable add-ons — within 14 days of cancellation
✅ Alternative holiday of equivalent quality — if the operator offers an alternative, you can accept or reject it. Rejection triggers the full refund right.
✅ The tour operator bears the commercial risk of the flight cancellation, not the passenger. You do not have to pursue the airline separately — your tour operator is liable for the entire package.
Contact your tour operator first. If they are unresponsive, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) monitors package travel refund compliance in the UK.
If your airline or tour operator has failed to process your refund within the legally required period (7–14 days), you have two additional remedies:
UK credit card holders: Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes your credit card provider jointly liable for purchases over £100. Contact your card provider and cite the cancellation and the outstanding refund.
US/Canada/Australia credit card holders: File a chargeback with your card issuer. The process typically takes 5–10 business days and is highly effective for airline refund disputes.
This is the question every passenger with a summer Dubai booking is asking. Here is the honest assessment based on everything confirmed today.
The next EASA review date has not yet been published. Based on the pattern to date — reviews every 2 weeks — the next review is likely in the week of May 8–12, 2026. If the ceasefire situation remains unchanged (no new deal, no new hostilities), the bulletin will almost certainly be extended again at that review.
The first realistic return scenario for European carriers:
For a European carrier to resume Dubai flights, the sequence needs to be:
Even in the most optimistic scenario — a ceasefire deal this week — the realistic earliest date for European carrier scheduled services to Dubai is late June 2026. BA’s July 1 date was calibrated precisely on this timeline.
The realistic summer 2026 outlook:
For now, the map remains split between closed zones, constrained corridors, and temporary pathways that airlines can use only under strict conditions. EASA’s extension leaves little doubt that, in its view, the conflict risk over the Middle East has not passed. Travel Tourister
If a peace agreement or durable ceasefire is not reached in May, the earliest realistic European carrier restart moves to August or September 2026 — which is after the peak summer holiday season has ended. Eurowings has already made this commercial judgement by suspending through October 24.
If you have a BA, KLM, Lufthansa, or Air France Dubai booking:
| Booking Date | Action |
|---|---|
| Up to May 31 | Request full cash refund now — cancellation confirmed |
| June 1–30 | Monitor closely — likely to cancel; consider rebooking via Emirates now |
| July 1 onwards | Book flexible only — BA return is planned but not guaranteed; Lufthansa/KLM have no confirmed post-May return date |
If you need to travel to Dubai or Gulf right now:
If you have a connecting itinerary through a Gulf hub that includes a European carrier segment:
The EASA April 24 decision is in: extended again, no changes, all 11 countries, all altitudes. The seventh consecutive extension of CZIB 2026-03-R6 confirms what the ceasefire collapse on April 22 made inevitable — the conditions for modifying this bulletin were not present at today’s review, and are not likely to be present at the next one either.
BA stays grounded until at least July 1. Lufthansa and KLM are suspended through May 31 and June 14 respectively — both dates now under pressure from today’s extension. Air France may hold its May 3 date but will almost certainly extend. Eurowings has already written off the entire summer.
The practical message for every passenger with a Gulf booking on a European carrier: if you are travelling before June 30, request your cash refund now. If you are travelling in July or beyond, book flexible fares only and monitor easa.europa.eu weekly. Do not book non-flexible fares on European carriers to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, or Doha until you see a confirmed EASA bulletin modification — not just a news article suggesting one might come.
The good news: Dubai is open. Emirates is flying. Qatar Airways resumed Dubai service yesterday. Kuwait’s airspace just reopened. The Gulf is not closed — it is just closed to European airlines. And the fastest way to Dubai right now is the same airline it has always been: Emirates, from your nearest gateway.
Sources: ops.group — Middle East Airspace Current Operational Picture (updated April 22, 2026); EASA — Conflict Zone Information Bulletin CZIB 2026-03-R6 (official bulletin, all revisions February 28–April 24, 2026); traveltourister.com — EASA April 24 2026 Countdown Guide (April 20, 2026); traveltourister.com — Iran Ceasefire Expires April 22 (April 21, 2026).
Posted By : Vinay
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