Overview
- Dubai International reopened from 4:00 p.m. local time on March 18 after a drone-related incident prompted a shutdown, with services resuming under a regulator‑approved phased plan.
- Air India and Air India Express will run 16 scheduled and 32 non‑scheduled flights on March 19, while IndiGo resumes Dubai operations and Akasa restores Riyadh service but keeps Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait suspended until March 21.
- Qatar Airways continues a constrained program under partial airspace access, flying about 1,600 Indians home on five flights on March 17 and posting a limited Doha–India schedule for March 18–28.
- Major international carriers extend cuts, with British Airways canceling services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain and Tel Aviv through May 31 and pausing Doha until April 30.
- Indian authorities report roughly 260,000 arrivals from the region since February 28, while Kuwait’s airspace remains closed and airlines warn schedules can change at short notice based on safety and regulatory decisions.