Tens of thousands of people on trips organised by German travel agencies have been affected by the US-Israel war with Iran, a leading trade group said on Monday.
Figures from the German Travel Association suggest about 30,000 tourists are unable to fly home amid the hostilities, which have prompted several countries in the region to close their airspace and led many airlines to suspend flights to and from the crisis area.
Flagship carrier Lufthansa said it will avoid airspace over Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Saudi airport of Dammam until at least March 8. United Arab Emirates airspace will be avoided until March 4.
Travellers in the affected areas have been advised to follow safety instructions from the German Foreign Ministry and guidance from local authorities.
Germany’s second-largest tour operator, Dertour, said guests unable to fly home or waiting for connections due to airspace closures have been informed and are being looked after on site. The company said it will inform guests about return journeys as soon as they are possible, will accompany transfers, has set up a crisis hotline and has cancelled all trips to the eight countries affected until at least Thursday.
A German Defence Ministry spokesperson said using military aircraft to evacuate German nationals stranded in the Middle East would be a last resort if commercial options are exhausted.
Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are among the busiest airports in the world, serving as major transit hubs. Over the weekend there were reports of hundreds of thousands of stranded travellers in airports across the region as countries closed airspace. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said at least 90,000 travellers transit through Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi alone each day.
At least 2,800 flights were cancelled worldwide on Saturday and a further 3,000 on Sunday because of the conflict. The disruption to air travel caused by the Iran war is the most severe since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Edited by: Karl Sexton