Since the military escalation between Israel, the USA and Iran, the situation in the entire region has continued to deteriorate. After new drone attacks on Dubai on Saturday morning, several aircraft had to abort their landing approach or go into holding patterns.

Only a short time later, Emirates partially resumed flight operations. According to the airline, air traffic became round resumed half an hour after the stop. Passengers with confirmed bookings can return to the airport, the company said. At the same time, Emirates emphasized that the situation would continue to be monitored closely and the flight schedule could be adjusted at short notice.

Other airlines are also reacting with restrictions or diversions.

These airports are currently affected

• Dubai International (DXB) – completely closed
• Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC) – completely closed
• Tel Aviv – Ben Gurion (TLV) – massive restrictions
• Beirut – Rafic Hariri International (BEY) – failures
• Airports in Israel, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain – some closed airspace
• Transfer connections via Doha, Dubai or Abu Dhabi – for example to Asia or Australia – are also massively affected.

These airlines have canceled or suspended flights

• Emirates – flights to and from Dubai temporarily suspended
• Lufthansa – several connections to the region canceled or rerouted
• British Airways – Middle East flights partially canceled
• Air France-KLM – suspended flights to several countries in the region
• Wizz Air – connections to affected countries discontinued
• Cathay Pacific – flight operations partially stopped

A Lufthansa flight from Munich to Riyadh had to be diverted to Cairo shortly before landing for safety reasons. According to the airline, the airport in Saudi Arabia was closed at the time of the arrival.

Around 30,000 package travelers from Germany affected

According to the travel industry, around 30,000 travelers from German tour operators affected by the flight cancellations and airspace closures.

Some airlines are now trying to bring stranded passengers out of the region on special flights. The Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings has already brought the first holidaymakers back to Germany from Riyadh on a special flight.

Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways also announced limited relief flights to Europe.

The federal government organizes return flights

At the same time, the federal government is organizing its own return campaigns. A first evacuation flight from Oman has already landed in Frankfurt, and further special flights are planned – including from the Saudi capital Riyadh.

According to the Foreign Office, anyone who is brought to Germany from the crisis region on such repatriation flights must pay a contribution towards costswhich is approximately the same as the price of a scheduled economy flight. According to media reports, this is currently around 500 euros.

The Foreign Office continues to advise Germans in the region to be on the crisis preparedness list ELEPHANT to register.

What the Foreign Office now advises travelers

The Foreign Office has significantly tightened its travel and safety instructions. Travel warnings currently apply to:

Israel/Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen.

For Iran There has been a travel warning since 2022.

• Registration in the ELEFAND crisis preparedness list
• Take warnings of air strikes seriously
• Find shelters and avoid windows
• Strictly follow instructions from authorities
• Arrange flights exclusively through the airline or organizer

When you can cancel free of charge

The decisive factor is whether at the destination ““unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances” exist, which significantly affect the execution of the trip. These include wars, armed conflicts or widespread political unrest.

Cancellation of package tours

In the case of a package tour, travelers can cancel free of charge before the start of the trip if the travel destination or its immediate surroundings are significantly affected. An official travel warning from the Foreign Office is a strong indication, but not a mandatory requirement.

The organizer must refund the travel price within 14 days.

Flight canceled: This applies according to EU law

If a flight is canceled, passengers are entitled to a full refund or a free rebooking.

However, an additional compensation payment of between 250 and 600 euros is usually excluded if the cancellation is due to “extraordinary circumstances” such as military conflicts or airspace closures.

Individual travel: More risk for vacationers

Anyone who has booked the flight and hotel separately bears a higher risk.

If only the flight is canceled, a separately booked hotel will generally remain in place. The respective contractual cancellation conditions or possible goodwill regulations of the provider apply here. There is no automatic right of withdrawal as with package tours.

Insurance: There are mistakes lurking here

Trip cancellation and trip termination
Usually only applies to personal reasons such as illness – not to general fear of escalation.

War clauses
In many insurance conditions, war events and civil unrest are expressly excluded from protection.

This particularly concerns them International travel health insurance: For example, if a traveler gets into an armed conflict and is injured, the insurer can refuse to cover the costs. Some tariffs only pay if war breaks out “unexpectedly” during your stay and even then often only for a limited period of time.

The statutory health insurance Pays outside the EU usually only to a limited extent; return transport is usually not included. This requires private international travel health insurance.

Check your travel health insurance:

• Is medical repatriation expressly insured? Does this apply when it makes medical sense or only when medically necessary?
• Are there exclusions in the event of war or political unrest?
• Is evacuation covered? (Note: This is unlikely to be included in any policy)

Business travelers and development workers

When it comes to postings, companies have a duty of care towards the affected employees. There are often group contracts or special coverage that better reflect crisis and evacuation services. Whether this is sufficient for the specific application should be checked quickly with the employer, assistance and insurer on site.