Airspace Closures Expose the Power – and Fragility – of the Gulf’s Big 3 Airlines

The global aviation ecosystem is underpinned by three airlines operating from the desert. As conflict spreads across the region following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks, this dependence is being stress-tested in real time.

The so-called ‘Middle East 3’ (ME3) – Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways – are facing simultaneous large-scale operational paralysis. Qatar Airways flights are canceled until at least 9 a.m. local time on March 3. The picture is more fluid at Etihad and Emirates, where all but “a limited number” of flights remain suspended. 

The scale of the disruption is difficult to overstate. As the world’s largest international airline, Emirates alone serves the UK with 146 weekly all-widebody services, including dozens of flights using the superjumbo Airbus A380 with up to 615 seats. It serves a total of three airports in the London area, along with flights to regional cities such as Birmingham,