With the security situation in the Middle East set off by the February U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran remaining highly volatile, airlines are forced to constantly push back their restart of flights into the region.
Delta, American Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and KLM have all collectively canceled hundreds of routes to a dozen Middle Eastern cities over the risk of Iranian strikes on local infrastructure.
Delta Air Lines recently extended the suspension of its route between Atlanta and Tel Aviv until November 2026 while American Airlines will also delay the restart of two high-profile routes to Doha and Tel Aviv until 2027.
KLM pushes back the restart of its Dubai and Saudi Arabia flights until July, August
The Dutch flag carrier KLM is one of the main carriers connecting Europe and the Middle East. On top of routes to major hubs such as Dubai and Doha, KLM also flies to cities such as Dammam, Oman, Riyadh and Muscat among others.
After repeated cancelations pushing back the restart of several major routes from Amsterdam until later in the summer, KLM has released the latest schedule update saying that it will not resume its flights to Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia until July 12 and Dubai until August 12.
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All of these routes have not run since March 1 and were initially slated to be resumed on June 28. Along with cancelations over the security situation in the Middle East, KLM has also cut approximately 160 flights from its European network over “rising kerosene costs” that made them “no longer financially viable to operate.”
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“Despite recent reporting about the situation in the Middle East, the current circumstances in the region still bring uncertainties,” the airline said in an earlier statement. “To provide clarity and certainty to travelers scheduled to fly to Dubai in the coming weeks, the cancelations have been extended.”
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While passengers with booked travel on these routes should have already been contacted by the airline with refund and rebooking options, anyone who pushed back their ticket to a time earlier than the current restart date can continue to change the date without the usual fees or limits.
Those who would rather cancel the ticket and receive a refund are also entitled to do so; passengers whose fare class would otherwise only allow rebooking or a travel voucher are subject to the airline’s extended waiver for flights into the Middle East.
“We understand that this decision has a significant impact on our travelers and are doing everything possible to keep them well informed,” KLM’s statement on the ongoing situation reads. “Passengers whose flights have been cancelled will be notified personally. They can change their flight or request a refund on the KLM website.”
Earlier in May, British Airways has made a similar pushback on several of its routes to Doha, Riyah, and Tel Aviv from London until August “due to ongoing uncertainty and airspace restrictions.” The airline also permanently cut a route to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah back in April.
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