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General thread for Middle East airspace closures and resulting flight moves

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GRALISTAIR

GRALISTAIR

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Hope the mods dont mind but I thought a general thread was in order about the Middle East airspace/airports closure and resulting diversion flights.

So March 1st my wife and I were supposed to fly on QATAR routing KUL (Kuala Lumpur Malaysia) - DOH (Doha,Qatar) - MAN - 14 hours earlier I saw the breaking news. then I got an email saying airspace closed and flights cancelled. I searched all sorts of options as my wife wanted to get home. Eventually I booked flights on Saudia leaving KUL at 02.15 Monday March 1st. Connected in JED (Jeddah Saudi Arabia) and arrived home in Manchester around 11.30 am Greenwich Mean Time on Monday March 2nd.

Overall I thought we were lucky. Jeddah is of course on the west coast of the Saudi peninsula so more away from the trouble and the airspace was opened.

I am seeing some scary stories of people trapped and having to pay exorbitant fees to get home.

I would be interested to hear other stories.
 
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D1511

D1511

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The other half's mum is stuck in Vietnam, after her flight via Abu Dhabi was obviously cancelled. She's heading back to France, and has been quoted €1700 for a AF flight via Singapore next Tuesday!
 
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edwin_m

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GRALISTAIR said:
Jeddah is of course on the west coast of the Saudi peninsula so more away from the trouble and the airspace was opened.
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Jeddah has been rocketed by the Houthis on a couple of occasions, so not 100% safe (but probably nowhere is at present).
 
AlastairFraser

AlastairFraser

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edwin_m said:
Jeddah has been rocketed by the Houthis on a couple of occasions, so not 100% safe (but probably nowhere is at present).
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Although I find it unlikely that Jeddah would be targeted during Ramadan at least, it's quite close to Mecca and Jeddah Airport is the international gateway to Mecca.
 
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thejuggler

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A friend was stuck the other way. He was in the UK for 5 days, should have gone back to Dubai on Saturday. He was on a flight on Monday and is now back in Dubai.
 
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YorkshireBear

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What are Emirates playing at? Closed then open then closed then cancelling all flights cos a drone nearly hit the terminal, then 45 minutes open again, more drones now shut again.

It seems to me they are playing fast and loose with safety to save face for the airlines here...

I'll be interested in what they make of it on captains speaking.
 
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