Tens of thousands of travellers are scattered at airports across the Middle East after Qatar’s airspace was suddenly closed ahead of the Iranian missile attack on a US base.
Doha’s Hamad International Airport closed for around eight hours from Monday evening to the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Doha is second only to Dubai as an international hub airport in the Gulf, with over 120,000 passengers passing through each day.
At 1.20am local time, Qatar Airways posted on social media platform X: “Qatar Airways confirms reinstatement of flights as airspace reopens in the State of Qatar.
“Our focus at this time is to help our passengers return home or reach their onward journey safely and smoothly. We’ve deployed extra ground staff at Hamad International Airport to support you as we resume operations.”
But with hundreds of flights cancelled or diverted, these are the key questions and answers.
What were the effects of the closure?
The first plane to be diverted was a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner from London Gatwick, which was well into its descent into Doha when it was turned away and flew to the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Dozens of following flights were diverted: initially to reasonably nearby airports, including Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai World Central, Muscat, Medina, Riyadh and Jeddah.
As they filled up, diversion airports spread to Istanbul, Cairo and Salalah in southern Oman.
Qatar Airways diverted many inbound flights from Asia and Australasia to Indian airports, including Goa, Delhi and Mumbai.
Some flights returned to their starting points or were cancelled before departure – including what was intended to be the first British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Doha since Friday, after the weekend flights were grounded.
What happened to other planes from the UK?
A Qatar Airways flight from Heathrow is also in Riyadh. The departure from Birmingham returned to the West Midlands airport after it had flown 1,800 miles to the eastern edge of Crete.
The next three Heathrow flights in line returned to London, as did the evening Gatwick and Manchester to Doha services. But passengers on Qatar Airways from Edinburgh are currently in Istanbul.
What will happen to passengers who end up in other airports?
The airline should aim to put the passengers and crew up in hotels and fly onwards to Doha once the airport is operational again. But that will prove difficult in locations such as India, where visa rules are tough.
And in places such as Bahrain and Muscat, there will not be enough hotel rooms for a sudden influx of thousands of passengers.
That is why many flights returned to their starting points – frustrating for travellers who may have spent eight hours on a “flight to nowhere”, but better than the alternatives.
How will Doha Airport itself cope?
With difficulty. Tens of thousands of passengers will have been waiting in the terminal to depart, whether they had just flown in or were starting their journey in Qatar – perhaps returning home after a family or business trip. While departures resumed in the early hours of Tuesday morning, it will take days to clear the backlog.
As we saw with the closure of Heathrow Airport due to a power failure in March, disarray ripples across the world. Planes and crews will need to be brought back to Doha, and getting back on schedule will take days.
What are passengers’ rights?
Under UK and EU air passengers’ rights legislation, anyone starting their journey in Europe is in a strong position.
Stuck in Doha? You must be provided with a hotel and meals until you can be flown out.
Not yet left Britain? Passengers booked from UK airports on Qatar Airways flights via Doha to Asia, Australasia or Africa are entitled to be flown to their destination as soon as possible by any carrier that has seats available.
As Qatar Airways has a 25 per cent stake in British Airways’ holding company, IAG, BA can be expected to pick up much of the slack.
Emirates and Turkish Airlines are other possibilities for many Asian and African destinations, while Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific could provide lift for passengers bound for Australia and New Zealand.
What if I am flying home – so my journey began outside Europe?
Booked on a non-European airline from an airport outside the EU and UK, you have no such rights.
As I discovered to my cost in November when Qatar Airways cancelled a flight from Kathmandu via Doha to London and offered an alternative a week later, with no hotel accommodation, the airline can do what it likes. On that occasion I took a refund and spent a further £1,300 on a flight home via Bangkok. Passengers in a hurry or who do not want to stump up for hotels may do something similar.
Travel insurance may help with some out-of-pocket expenses and a modest payment for long delays.
When will things be back to normal?
Airlines including Qatar Airways are working at full stretch as the summer peak approaches, so even when the schedule is back on track it could be July before some stranded passengers get where they need to be.
