How Locked Down Is Travel in the Middle East?

The U.S.-Israel war with Iran has caused far-reaching disruptions in air travel around the Middle East, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute thousands of flights and leaving many people stranded.

The airspace covering a wide swath of the region has been closed amid the expanding conflict as the U.S. and Israel have continued carrying out strikes against Iran and Iran has launched a wave of attacks around the Gulf in retaliation. Several major airports in the region, which serve as some of the most frequented connection points for international travelers, have closed or suffered damage, exponentially slowing flight activity through normally busy hubs. Some repatriation flights have resumed, but the ongoing military action has left  commercial air travel in the region in chaos. 

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Read more: Trump’s War

On Monday, the State Department told Americans to “DEPART NOW” from countries across the Middle East using commercial transportation “due to serious safety risks.” Trump said the same day that his Administration was working to organize flights for those returning to the U.S. “free of charge.” The Administration has said it is working to charter flights and send military aircraft to help transport Americans stuck in the Middle East.

“We will not rest until every single American is returned home safely,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. On Thursday, the State Department reported that nearly 20,000 Americans had safely made it back to the U.S. since the war began.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said to reporters on Tuesday, however, that facilitating repatriation flights was “going to take a little time, because we don’t control the airspace closure.” 

Read more: Trump Says There Will Be No Deal With Iran Except ‘Unconditional Surrender’

Other countries have also made efforts to facilitate the return of residents stranded in the region—or outside of it. More than 20,000 Israelis have returned home since the start of the war, for instance, according to Israel’s Transportation Ministry, though the ministry noted that as of Thursday 120,000 others were still seeking a way back.

Here’s what to know about the state of air travel at several of the most heavily impacted airports in the Middle East. 

Dubai Airports

Dubai International Airport (DXB), the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, was impacted by retaliatory strikes from Iran that caused the airport to be evacuated on Sunday. 

A travel advisory from Dubai Airports, which includes Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) and DXB, states that a small number of flights have resumed operating, but that passengers “must not travel to the airport unless they have received a confirmed departure time directly from their airline.”

As of Friday afternoon, there have been almost 4,000 cancellations of flights going in or coming out of DXB since Monday, according to FlightAware.com. 

Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport

Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Monday that it was resuming limited operations, but also advised passengers not to travel to the airport unless advised to do so by an airline. Operations at the airport are still limited, as of Friday afternoon.

So far, the airport has cancelled over 1,000 flights since the conflict began.

Eddie Dupuy and Jan Fluitt-Dupuy, a couple from Tacoma, Washington, are currently stranded in Abu Dhabi after visiting friends in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Jordan. Following Saturday’s strikes on Iran, their original flight home on Tuesday with Emirates was cancelled. 

In a conversation with TIME, the couple expressed disappointment with the U.S. government as they seek assistance in getting back home. 

“We feel pretty safe at this point. The frustration that we’re having now is trying to get back to the United States,” Dupuy says. 

Their second flight, scheduled for Thursday, was also cancelled, and they are now booked on a third flight for Saturday, but they suspect this booking will face the same fate as their previous bookings.

At the time they spoke with TIME, the couple had called the State Department three times, sent several emails asking for assistance, and filed a crisis intake report, to no avail. 

“The second time we called, they just said they can’t help us,” Dupuy says. “I called that number again tonight, waited 30 minutes on hold, and then I was disconnected.”

In contrast, they say the UAE government has been incredibly accommodating, paying for their extended hotel stay and three meals a day. 

“It’s just been very frustrating to try and communicate with the State Department on any level,” Fluitt-Dupuy tells TIME. “As much as I love my country, I am sorely disappointed in its reaction.”

Qatar’s Hamad International Airport

Hamad International Airport (DOH) in Doha, Qatar announced on Tuesday that flight operations remained temporarily suspended due to the Qatari airspace being closed and requested that passengers not travel to the airport until further notice. 

“Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace by the relevant authorities. A further update will be provided on 06 March by 09:00 Doha time (06:00 UTC),” Qatar Airways posted on X on Thursday. 

Over 2,000 flight cancellations had affected DOH by Friday afternoon. 

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport

Israel’s busiest airport, Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) near Tel Aviv, began to receive repatriation flights on Thursday as Israel started to reopen its airspace, which had been closed since the start of the war. 

The airport began restarted operations in phases on Wednesday, following an announcement by Transportation Minister Miri Regev at a press conference the previous day. 

“Our mission is to bring back Israelis safely,” Regev said “According to the outline from the second day of the operation, we will be able to return about 10,000 passengers a day.”

Kuwait International Airport 

Drone attacks over the weekend caused damage at Kuwait International Airport (KWI), according to an official from the country’s civil aviation authority, which left some workers with minor injuries. 

Kuwait’s airspace has been closed, and commercial flights are on hold.

Kuwait Airways said it would help transport Kuwaiti citizens with prior bookings who wish to return to the country by rerouting them to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

Iran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport

Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) in Tehran, the capital of Iran, appeared to remain fully closed as of Friday. 

GPS data from FlightAware.com shows the skies above Tehran and its airport empty, with no flight arrivals or departures scheduled, as of Friday afternoon.