War in Middle East: Over 3,000 flights cancelled globally; IndiGo, Akasa Air resume limited operations

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 3, 2026 09:55 AM IST

As the war escalates in Middle East, air travel across the globe is severely hit with hundreds of thousands of travellers stranded at the airports and hotels. With closure of multiple airspaces over the Middle East, past three days saw most of the airlines suspending their flights to and from the countries in the region.

While Emirates — the Middle Eastern carrier with most number of flight cancellations — resumed limited number of flights on Monday, the worst-affected IndiGo is operating four dedicated flights from Jeddah on Tuesday.

As of 8.30 am on Tuesday, over 3,000 flights have been cancelled and more than 18,000 have been delayed across the world, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Here are the 10 worst-affected airlines with most number of flight cancellations so far.

5 Destination airports with most number of flight cancellations

IndiGo

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“As part of our efforts to progressively normalize our operations between Saudi Arabia and India, we will be operating four dedicated flights from Jeddah, 3rd March 2026, to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. These flights are being arranged to cater to customers who were already booked on our flights and have been unable to travel due to the prevailing circumstances,” IndiGo said in a statement.

It stated that customers seeking further details or assistance are requested to reach out to their contact centre at +91 124 6173838. “Our teams remain available to guide and support you with the next steps. Our teams will also be proactively reaching out to impacted customers with further details and assistance. Please ensure your booking and contact details are up to date to receive timely updates. Please do not go to the airport unless you have been notified. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew remain our highest priority, and we will continue to assess the situation to enable a safe and progressive restoration of our operations.

Akasa Air

Akasa Air too has started operating select flights to and from Jeddah on Tuesday

Akasa Air Schedule for flights to and from Middle East

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March 03, 2026
• QP 561 Mumbai – Jeddah I ETD – 19:20
• QP 562 Jeddah – Mumbai I ETD – 23:55

March 04, 2026
• QP 561 Mumbai – Jeddah I ETD – 19:20
• QP 562 Jeddah – Mumbai I ETD – 23:55
• QP 563 Ahmedabad – Jeddah I ETD – 17:45
• QP 564 Jeddah – Ahmedabad I ETD – 21:50

(All times are local)

“The operation of the above-mentioned flights is based on our current safety assessment and may change subject to prevailing conditions.

The airline also mentioned that the flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait, and Riyadh will remain suspended until March 04, 2026. “We continue to closely monitor the evolving situation in the Middle East and are carefully assessing operational conditions across our international network. Passengers are requested to check their flight status at http://bit.ly/qpfltsts before commencing travel to the airport,” it said. For further assistance, Akasa Air passengers are requested to contact the 24×7 Care Centre at +91 9606112131.

Air India

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Even as Air India extended its temporary suspension of all its flights on Tuesday, it resumed its scheduled operations to all destinations in he USA, Canada, Europe and UK. “Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers impacted by the suspension of flights to the Middle East and is committed to assisting them with alternative arrangements and options of full refunds or complimentary rescheduling,” it wrote.

Urging peoplr to check their flight status on its website before reaching the airports, Air India had also asked to contact its support team at +911169329333,+911169329999 for more information.

SpiceJet

SpiceJet shared a list of flights from and to Middle Eastern countries cancelled on March 3.