Major airline extends refund policy for Dubai flights
While international airlines are gradually restarting some flights to the Middle East, the volatility set off by the U.S. strike on Iran continues to make establishing any kind of timeframe challenging.
Delta Air Lines recently extended the suspension of its flight between Atlanta and Tel Aviv until November 2026 while American Airlines also confirmed that it will not be restarting its routes to Doha and Tel Aviv until 2027 at the earliest.
Dutch flag carrier KLM's latest update states that it will "not operate flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until and including August 23" while British Airways has also recently scaled back the restart of its flight between London Heathrow and Dubai from August to October 2026.
British Airways extends Dubai travel waiver until October 31
The extended travel waiver that British Airways put in place in March 2026 for those booked to travel to the United Arab Emirates allows passengers whose fare class would otherwise not allow for changes to either refund their ticket or keep it while changing the date in the hopes that the flights will eventually run.
With the flight between London Heathrow and Dubai International currently slated to restart on October 25, British Airways has added an extra week to make changes from October 24 to 31.
Related: Another airline shuts down over Iran war, all flights off
Other cities to which British Airways service is suspended over the security situation in the Middle East also fall under the waiver until the flights resume.
"Due to ongoing uncertainty and airspace restrictions, some of our flights in the region have been cancelled or temporarily suspended, including services to and from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh," British Airways says in a statement that has been in place since March 2026. "To give customers greater peace of mind, we're extending the flexibility available to those with bookings to these destinations."
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Which British Airways flights to the Middle East are restarting in the fall
The Riyadh service is currently slated to resume on August 8 while the Tel Aviv route is currently also set for October 26. The route to Doha is set to resume earlier than the others on August 1.
The airline says that it continues to contact travelers with valid tickets to ensure that they choose whether they want to rebook or get a refund.
Another airline that recently delayed the resumption of its service to Dubai until October 2026, Singapore Airilnes, also has an extended refund policy in which affected travelers can seek a refund for the unused portion of their ticket.
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German flag carrier Lufthansa, meanwhile, has recently announced plans to gradually resume flights to Riyadh and Amman from Frankfurt in September 2026 while monitoring the ability to do the same for Dubai before the end of the year.
Similar suspensions are currently in place for Lufthansa Group subsidiaries SWISS and Austrian Airlines while plans to restart remain highly dependent on a lifting of airspace restrictions and a ceasefire that so far has not held.
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