Four flights cancelled at Birmingham Airport as Middle East airspace closures continue
Four flights are cancelled at Birmingham Airport today (Thursday 5 March) as airspace closures continue in the Middle East.
Flights have continued to be cancelled at Birmingham Airport since the US and Israel's war on Iran began. In Emirates’ latest travel update, the airline announced that all scheduled flights are cancelled until at least 11.59pm GST on Saturday March 7.
However, the airline is operating a limited number of repatriation services from Dubai International Airport. Passengers for these flights will be contacted directly. Travellers have been advised not to proceed to the airport unless they have been directly contacted by their airline with a confirmed departure time.
Today (Thursday 5 March), an Emirates flight from Dubai is due to land at Birmingham Airport after 12pm. A departure flight from Birmingham Airport to Dubai is also scheduled at 13:40pm.
This was the case yesterday (Wednesday 4 March) at the major West Midlands hub which saw the first flight from Dubai to Birmingham land since the conflict in the Middle East began.
Despite a limited number of flights operating at Birmingham some routes still continue to be cancelled. Listed below are the affected flights today.
Departures
07:40 Qatar Airways to Doha - cancelled
20:50 Emirates to Dubai - cancelled
Arrivals
06:10 Qatar Airways from Doha - cancelled
18:45 Emirates from Dubai - cancelled
The airspace in the United Arab Emirates remains partially closed so flights will continue to be cancelled in the region. Israel’s airspace remains closed with the exception of military flights and civilian operators with prior permission.
Oman's airspace remains open, and airlines have begun using Muscat as a base for evacuation flights. The first government-arranged repatriation flight had been scheduled to depart from Oman's capital Muscat late on Wednesday (4 March). But, according to the Foreign Office, the plane was grounded overnight because of technical issues.
Passengers were given free hotel accommodation and the flight is expected to leave later today (Thursday 5 March). Muscat, which is some 300 miles by road from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has emerged as a key location for people to leave the Middle East as the vast majority of commercial flights from the United Arab Emirates are cancelled due to airspace restrictions caused by the conflict.
British Airways is also operating commercial flights back to the UK, including from Muscat. One took off on Wednesday night and is due to land at Heathrow this morning, shortly after 8am. Two more British Airways flights will take passengers from Muscat to London Heathrow on Friday and Saturday.
The airline said the flights would be available to those with an existing booking with the airline who were in Oman or the UAE. It has since confirmed that both the flights have been fully booked.
