Govt deploys special flights to bring back stranded Indian passengers as tensions escalate in West Asia

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday said that it is making arrangements for stranded passengers in West Asia as tensions in the region escalate. Various Indian airlines have started to ply dedicated flights to bring back passengers from Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

“The Ministry of Civil Aviation is closely monitoring the evolving airspace situation in parts of the Middle East and its impact on international flight operations. Special arrangements are being made to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement.

While flight operations were completely shut off after West Asian countries began closing their airspace since Saturday, as the US and Israel attacked Iran, the situation has improved a little after airlines like Emirates, flydubai and Etihad started operating some special flights from Monday.

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Airlines deploy special flights

On Monday, IndiGo announced that it will operate four dedicated flights starting March 3 from Jeddah to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Travel Advisory

As part of our efforts to progressively normalize our operations between Saudi Arabia and India, we will be operating four dedicated flights from Jeddah tomorrow, 3rd March 2026, to

🔹 Mumbai
🔹 Hyderabad
🔹 Ahmedabad

These flights are being arranged to cater…

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) March 2, 2026

Similarly, Akasa Air and SpiceJet will also ply additional flights from today to bring back Indian passengers from the region. SpiceJet has also announced that it will resume scheduled flights between Fujairah and Delhi and between Fujairah and Mumbai starting March 4.

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Akasa Air (@AkasaAir) posts, "Following a comprehensive safety review, we are operating select flights to and from Jeddah on March 03 and March 04, 2026:

March 03, 2026 • QP 561 Mumbai – Jeddah I ETD - 19:20 • QP 562 Jeddah – Mumbai I ETD - 23:55… pic.twitter.com/lBhhaany5q

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 3, 2026

Meanwhile, Air India has offered passengers who booked flights to West Asian destinations on or before 28 February 2026 a full refund for their tickets. Also, passengers will be able to reschedule their flights at no additional cost.

#TravelAdvisory

As part of our commitment to your safety and convenience, Air India is extending full flexibility if your travel to/from the Middle East is impacted due to the ongoing situation.

For bookings made on or before 28 February 2026, with travel originally planned…

— Air India (@airindia) March 1, 2026

The first passenger flight took off from Abu Dhabi on Monday after Iran distanced itself from recent missile and drone strikes across the Gulf, as Etihad Airways resumed limited operations from Zayed International Airport.

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed departures to London Heathrow, Paris, Amsterdam and Moscow.

The first aircraft, EY67 to London Heathrow, departed at 2:39 pm local time (11:39 am CET) and quickly became the most tracked flight on the platform.

Flight cancellations

At the same time, IndiGo on Tuesday cancelled 43 flights to and from West Asia. Similarly, SpiceJet has also cancelled several West Asia-bound flights on March 3.

Important Update.#flyspicejet #spicejet pic.twitter.com/Bw7VGhuRtL

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) March 2, 2026

Etihad Airways said, “All Etihad’s scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain suspended until 14:00 UAE time on Wednesday 4 March.”

Regional Airspace Disruption – Operational Update

All Etihad’s scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain suspended until 14:00 UAE time on Wednesday 4 March.

Some repositioning, cargo and repatriation flights may operate in coordination with UAE authorities and…

— Etihad Airways (@etihad) March 2, 2026

On Sunday, over 100 international flights were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at different airports across West Asia.

In the early hours of February 28, airstrikes and military operations were launched against multiple cities in Iran. Iran responded with retaliatory attacks across the region, striking targets in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

As tensions escalated, authorities in several locations shut down airports and closed airspace as a precautionary measure. The abrupt suspension of flights caused widespread travel disruptions, leaving many passengers awaiting further updates.