Gulf carriers resume limited flights, but missile fire fuels uncertainty

HONG KONG - Emirates and Etihad Airways were resuming limited flight schedules to key global cities from their United Arab Emirates hubs on March 6, though the ongoing threat of missile fire piled pressure on airlines as they scrambled to accommodate travellers.

With most airspace in the Middle East still closed over missile and drone concerns since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran, the authorities have been arranging charter flights and securing seats on limited commercial services to evacuate tens of thousands of people.

A government-chartered Air France flight to bring French nationals back from the United Arab Emirates was forced to turn back on March 5 due to missile fire in the area, French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said.

“This situation reflects the instability in the region and the complexity of repatriation operations,” he said.

Britain’s first repatriation flight from Oman landed at London’s Stansted Airport early on March 6 after being rescheduled due to operational issues, including delays in boarding passengers.

Etihad said on March 6 it would resume a limited flight schedule until March 19. The flights will operate to and from Abu Dhabi and 25 destinations, including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Delhi, New York and Toronto.

As at March 5, traffic at Dubai airport, normally the world’s busiest, had almost doubled from March 4, but remained only about 25 per cent of normal levels, flight-tracking website Flightradar24 said.

Dubai-based Emirates, one of the UAE’s two flag carriers, said late on March 5 it was operating a reduced flight schedule to 82 destinations, including London, Sydney, Singapore and New York, until further notice, and customers transiting in Dubai would be accepted only if their connecting flight was operating.

The limited operations at Middle Eastern hubs have hit travellers on routes from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region particularly hard.

Combined, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways normally fly about one-third of passengers from Europe to Asia and more than half of all passengers from Europe to Australia, New Zealand and nearby Pacific Islands, according to Cirium data.

Qatar’s Doha hub remains shut, though it has been arranging a limited number of relief flights from Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Data from Cirium showed that from Feb 28 – when the conflict started – to March 5, there were more than 44,000 flights scheduled in and out of the Middle East, with more than 25,000 flights cancelled so far.

Malaysia Airlines said it would add extra flights from Kuala Lumpur to London and Paris from March 6-8 to support disrupted travellers, while SriLankan Airlines said it would operate an additional flight between Colombo and London on March 8.

Jet fuel prices soar, shares fall

Higher oil prices have sent jet fuel costs soaring, with Singapore jet fuel reaching a record high of US$225 (S$288) a barrel this week, which traders attributed to concerns about supply shortages from Middle Eastern refiners.

The price eased slightly on March 5 to about US$195 a barrel after some profit-taking, but remained nearly double that of last week.

“As well as lost revenue, airlines are likely to be affected by higher fuel prices,” Fitch Ratings said.

Fuel hedging varies by airline, but Fitch said most carriers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were about 50 per cent to 80 per cent hedged for the next three months.

Shares of Qantas Airways fell more than 3 per cent on March 6, Air New Zealand was down nearly 7 per cent, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific dropped more than 2 per cent, while Singapore Airlines was down more than 1 per cent.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of major Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, were down between 2 per cent and 4 per cent.

Travellers describe chaos

With the conflict showing little sign of easing, wider aviation and air cargo disruption looked set to linger.

Passengers have been forking out huge sums of money to get out of the Middle East, with some who managed to travel back by commercial flight on March 5 from Oman saying it had been “absolute chaos” to find their way back home from Dubai.

“We paid £1,500 (S$2,560) to get across to Muscat (Oman) to get on the plane,” said Mr Ed Short after he arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport on a British Airways flight.

“We’d spent about £20,000 booking Emirates flight instead. So we’re hoping we get those back.”

With the conflict showing little sign of easing, wider aviation and air-cargo disruption looked set to linger.

Saudi budget carrier Flynas will run a limited number of flights between Saudi Arabia and Dubai starting on March 6. REUTERS