A group of Taiwanese nationals gestures upon their return on the first Dubai–Taiwan flight following the conflict in the Middle East, at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan on 4 March 2026.

• More than 100 commercial flights departed from the UAE and Oman on Thursday, despite ongoing Middle East military strikes.
• Flight cancellations across the region fell to 43.1%, down from over 60% earlier in the week.
• Major airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways resumed limited operations, prioritising repatriation for stranded travellers.

Fewer commercial flights were cancelled on Thursday in the Middle East despite continued military strikes, with more than 100 flights taking off from the United Arab Emirates, according to a specialist data firm.

The United States and Israel launched a campaign of air strikes against Iran on Saturday, killing its supreme leader and sparking retaliatory attacks by Tehran across the Gulf, with airports also targeted.

Airports in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are major hubs for travel between Europe and Asia, so the closure of the region’s airspace quickly left tens of thousands of travellers stranded.

Cirium, a company specialising in aviation sector data, said 87 flights took off on Thursday from Dubai’s international airport, the world’s second-largest airport by passengers, and 15 from Abu Dhabi.

Another 60 flights left Oman’s capital Muscat.

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However, no flights left the airports in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Cirium said that 43.1% of flights across the region were cancelled on Thursday.

That is down from 61% on Wednesday, and more than 65% between Sunday and Tuesday.

Among the aircraft leaving Dubai were the super jumbo A380S flown by flag carrier Emirates.

Other Emirates A380S returned from abroad, including from destinations such as Los Angeles.

The airline said on its website:

It added that customers with earlier bookings were being given priority to reserve new flights.

According to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24, flights departing from the United Arab Emirates were heading south to keep their distance from the Gulf and Iran.

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Qatar Airways, whose regular operations are suspended until further notice, said on Thursday it would carry out a limited number of repatriation flights for travellers stranded in the region.

It said it would operate flights from Muscat to London, Berlin and Rome, as well as from Riyadh to Frankfurt.