Significant disruptions to travel in multiple regions of the world are continuing into the second day after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and multiple people in his inner circle.
All major airlines have suspended flights into cities including Dubai, Tel Aviv, and Doha as large swaths of the airspace around Iran and multiple other countries in the Middle East remain closed.
Flight data from Cirium show that 1,579 flights into the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain were called off on March 1 after nearly 3,000 cancellations a day earlier.
Local airlines such as Emirates and flydubai suspended all service, while international carriers including Lufthansa, KLM, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines have all canceled their scheduled flights into the region.
American Airlines passengers spend 16 hours aboard after flight to Qatar turns around
Running a daily flight between Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Hamad International Airport (DOH) to the capital of Qatar, American Airlines was forced to turn the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner back around nearly eight hours in when the strike occurred at roughly 10 a.m. local Tehran time on Feb. 28.
Flight AA 120 departed Philadelphia at 7:38 p.m. EST on Feb. 27 and was flying over Spain when the pilots made the call to turn the flight back around to the United States rather than diverting it to Madrid or another European city.
Related: Iranian strike hits major airport, injuries reported
As a result, the roughly 285 passengers aboard have spent a total of 16 hours in the air without actually getting anywhere other than their original departure city.
Amid Iranian retaliatory strikes at multiple countries across the Middle East, American Airlines has suspended the flight between Philadelphia and Doha for the coming three days.
Although it is currently marked as scheduled for March 3, the rapidly evolving situation in the country means it is very unlikely to run then.
Multiple sites in Qatar have been targeted by retaliatory strikes from Iran.
Image source: Shutterstock
American Airlines suspends Doha flight, says it will “continue to monitor the situation”
“American Airlines has made adjustments to its Doha, Qatar operation, temporarily suspending flights between DOH and Philadelphia,” the airline said in a statement on its Qatar service. “We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and make any additional adjustments as needed.”
The return pushed the total hours of flight time permitted to the pilots and flight attendants working on the route to the legal limit as the rapidly-evolving situation in the Middle East raised questions about how passengers who would be stranded in Europe would be able to return home in light of widespread airspace closures.
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Other routes diverted mid-flight on Feb. 28 include an Emirates flight from Seattle to Dubai forced to land in Warsaw, and another from New York that was diverted to Vienna. United Airlines also diverted flights already headed to Dubai and Tel Aviv on Saturday morning, Feb. 28.
Going forward, service to these cities remains suspended at all three major U.S. airlines. While each has issued a voucher allowing travelers to refund or rebook flights free of charge, strikes have continued into Sunday, March 1, with no indication that service can restart any time soon.
Related: Which flights are canceled over U.S. strike on Iran