Iran war upends aviation strategies
The Iran war is reshaping international aviation, with Gulf carriers forced to cancel tens of thousands of flights while rivals from Europe and Asia pick up some of the slack.
Around 1.7 million weekly seats have been removed from the region’s airline schedules so far, equal to around a third of prewar capacity, according to industry analysts OAG.
Saudi-based airlines are operating near-normal schedules, but the larger carriers in Qatar and the UAE are not. Qatar Airways is seeking lower aircraft rental payments as a way to reduce costs, Bloomberg reported. Airlines from other regions, including British Airways, Germany’s Lufthansa, and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific have cut back on services to the Gulf or pulled out entirely. At the same time, some have increased capacity on direct Asia-Europe routes that bypass the Gulf, although it is hard to make significant additions quickly, and at affordable prices for passengers.
