The global aviation industry has been affected by the Middle East conflict, and many airlines have canceled or rerouted flights

The global aviation industry has been hit by the escalation of the Middle East conflict, with missile attacks forcing airlines to avoid large swathes of airspace, change flight plans, and divert some aircraft.

Qatar suspended flights over its airspace late on Monday, shortly after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. air base in Qatar at around 19:45 local time. Qatar's move effectively stopped Qatar Airways operations and forced dozens of flights from airlines such as Etihad, Emirates and FlyDubai to change their itineraries. Other Persian Gulf countries have followed suit, including Bahrain and Kuwait.

According to an internal memo from Emirates, flights in and out of Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest hub, have been suspended, and westbound routes are currently unavailable. Representatives for Emirates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A person familiar with the matter said the UAE has closed its airspace as a security precaution. But according to a post on social media X by aviation data provider Flightradar24, more than 10 planes were diverted during the closure, and flights subsequently resumed taking off and landing in the UAE.

According to aviation consultancy Cirium, dozens of flights from commercial airlines to the Gulf region were diverted to safer local airports in Cairo, Egypt, India and Belgium, including flights from London and Zurich to destinations such as Dubai and Qatar.

This is the most serious disruption to air traffic in the region so far. Qatar Airways uses Doha as its global hub and connects to more than 170 destinations around the world. Turkish Airlines has suspended flights to destinations in the Gulf region, including Dubai, home to one of the world's busiest airports, and other airlines such as Singapore Airlines and British Airways have also canceled flights.