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Doha, Dubai airports face delays, cancellations as

airspace shut

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Iran's strike on US base in Doha impacts thousands of

passengers

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Hostilities continue with deadly attacks despite ceasefire

By Luke Tyson, Amr Alfiky and Mark Bendeich

DUBAI/DOHA, June 24 (Reuters) - Operations at two of the

world's busiest airports in Doha and Dubai slowed to a crawl on

Tuesday as thousands of travellers queued for hours, facing long

delays and flight cancellations after the temporary closure of

airspace a day earlier.

Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait shut their airspace late on

Monday after Iran's strike on a U.S. military base in Qatar's

capital Doha, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute hundreds of

flights and creating a backlog of stranded passengers.

Airports across Dubai in the United Arab Emirates briefly

halted operations.

U.S. President Donald Trump said a ceasefire between Israel

and Iran was in place and asked both sides not to violate it,

raising hopes of an end to the 12-day war, but hostilities

continued, with deadly attacks reported in both countries.

"I haven't slept for 19 hours. And I've been in this line

over nine hours," said Lily Rogers, 21, who was in an around 200

metres (656 feet) queue in Doha's Hamad International airport.

The psychology student, en route to an holiday in Southeast

Asia, said those in line were only given water during the wait.

Virgin Australia estimated that over 25,000 passengers were

stranded at Doha airport.

Lines were so long that arguments broke out as some

passengers jumped queues, according to a Reuters witness.

Around 250 flights were cancelled at Hamad airport, while

another 238 were delayed, according to flight tracking website

FlightRadar24.

Long queues formed also at Dubai International, the busiest

airport in the world, where about 145 flights were cancelled and

over 450 delayed, FlightRadar24 data showed.

Qatar Airways said it was "making progress in restoring its

schedule" with possible disruptions until June 26.

Dubai Airports and the Dubai government media office were

not immediately available for comment.

BUSY HUB

Airports in the Middle East are some of the busiest in the

world, covering an area stretching from Iran and Iraq to the

Mediterranean and serving as a connecting hub for flights

between Europe and Asia.

The region has also taken on a more important role since the

start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has forced

airlines to avoid airspace over both countries.

Dubai transported 92.3 million passengers last year, with a

daily average of over 250,000.

Israel's strikes against Iran on June 13 already prompted

airlines from British Airways to Lufthansa to

halt flights to some Middle East destinations due to air space

closures and safety concerns.

Following the U.S. attacks on Iran on Sunday, many have also

cut flights to typically resilient hubs such as Dubai.

The restrictions and closures have created ripple effects

beyond the region, as most passenger traffic transits through

Hamad airport to other destinations, said Asia-based independent

aviation analyst Brendan Sobie.

Only 22% of passengers travelling through the airport had

Qatar as their final destination in 2024, airport data shows.

On Monday, Air India suspended flights to and from the U.S.

East Coast, Canada and Europe, which involve a tight corridor

between those destinations and the Indian subcontinent.

That poses a challenge for Indian carriers because they do

not have access to Pakistani airspace, analysts say. The two

neighbours blocked access to each other's airspace in April

after a brief military conflict.

Air India said on Tuesday it would resume those flights as

soon as airspaces reopen, while other carriers such as flydubai

warned that delays would persist due to airspace congestion.

"It's very frustrating," said Julien Moutte, a Paris-bound

passenger who had been stuck at Doha's airport for around 15

hours.