SpiceJet rescue flights: SpiceJet on Thursday announced that it will operate 13 special flights from the UAE to facilitate the return of Indians stranded due to the Middle East conflict.
Of the 13 flights, seven will operate from Fujairah to Mumbai, while five will operate to Dubai. One flight will run from Dubai to Mumbai.
“Of the 13 flights, 12 will operate from Fujairah and one will operate from Dubai. The airline will operate seven special flights to Mumbai, five special flights to Delhi and one special flight from Dubai to Mumbai,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the airline said it operated 12 special flights from Fujairah to Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi.
On Wednesday, SpiceJet announced the operation of multiple special flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to India to support passengers and ease connectivity concerns amid the ongoing disruptions to flight operations due to the Israel-Iran conflict in the Middle East.
The airline had said that it continues to operate several additional services from key cities of the UAE, including Dubai and Fujairah, to Mumbai and Delhi. The special flights are aimed at assisting stranded passengers and ensuring smoother movement between the two countries during this period.
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SpiceJet flights on March 5
According to the flight schedule released by SpiceJet on X post, on March 5, flight SG 9014 will operate from Dubai to Mumbai (STD 1:55, STA 6:25), while SG 9036 will connect Fujairah to Mumbai (STD 4:20, STA 8:30). Other services from Fujairah to Delhi include SG 9006 (11:10-16:40), SG 9082 (19:05-00:10), and SG 9085 (14:35-19:40). Additional Fujairah-Mumbai flights on the same day include SG 9087 (12:30-17:00) and SG 9089 (20:30-1:00).
SpiceJet flights on March 6
For March 6, SpiceJet has scheduled multiple departures from Fujairah to Mumbai and Delhi. These include SG 9014 (1:55-6:25), SG 9036 (4:20-8:30), SG 9712 (10:50-15:40), SG 9714 (20:20-1:00), SG 9044 (23:30-4:00), SG 9087 (12:30-17:00), and SG 9089 (20:30-1:00) to Mumbai. Services to Delhi include SG 9072 (0:05-5:10), SG 9006 (11:10-16:40), SG 9082 (21:15-2:20), SG 9085 (12:05-17:10), and SG 9073 (23:05-3:55).
SpiceJet flight on March 7
Additionally, for March 7, SG 9014 will operate from Fujairah to Mumbai (1:15-5:25).
Air India relief flights
Air India, meanwhile, also announced relief measures for passengers affected by the ongoing situation.
In view of the continuing developments impacting flight operations, the airline is offering customers the option of complimentary rescheduling or full refunds on cancellation for confirmed bookings made on or before February 28, on flights to and from the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Europe, for travel up to March 10.
Air India said on Wednesday that it is closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Middle East and has started operating a few flights to and from Dubai and Jeddah to bring back stranded passengers, giving the highest priority to their safety and well-being.
The announcements come at a time when several airlines have been disrupted due to Middle East tension after the US and Israel conducted coordinated airstrikes across multiple Iranian cities on February 28, targeting military command centres, air-defence systems, missile sites, and key regime infrastructure. These strikes resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and four senior military and security officials, with large explosions reported in Tehran and other major cities.
In response, Iran also retaliated by launching ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region, including Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, further widening the conflict in the Middle East and heightening risks for civilians and expatriates alike.
Explosions in the sky woke Cory McKane on Saturday, turning a quick visit to Dubai before a friend’s wedding in India into a tense, multi-day search for a way out of the United Arab Emirates as the Iran war expanded.
Repatriation flights ramp up as nations race to bring citizens home from Middle East
Hundreds of thousands of travellers found themselves stranded in the Middle East after Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Saturday, and Iran struck back on Gulf states as well as Israel. With much of the region’s airspace closed and airstrikes intensifying, governments from North America and Africa to Europe and Southeast Asia continued their race on Wednesday to bring their citizens home, reported AP.
Officials chartered jets or deployed military aircraft to route stranded travellers through Oman, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which emerged as key exit points since airplanes still could land and take off from those countries.
A plane carrying French citizens from Oman and then Egypt landed in Paris early Wednesday, the first of several expected repatriation flights organised by France’s government. A group of students returned to Italy after their government evacuated them from Dubai. More than 200 people from 16 countries departed Iran by land through neighbouring Turkmenistan despite the former Soviet country’s strict visa policies.
While repatriation efforts gained momentum, many travellers faced the choice of waiting or trying to secure seats on the diminished number of commercial flights operating.
More than 23,000 of the roughly 44,000 flights scheduled to fly to or from the Middle East between the start of the war and Thursday have been cancelled, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported more than 2,400 flight cancellations worldwide on Wednesday, down from about 3,150 on Monday.
Helping the most vulnerable
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France estimates about 400,000 of its citizens are in parts of the Mideast affected by the conflict, either as residents or travellers, President Emmanuel Macron said.
Eleonore Caroit, the minister responsible for French nationals abroad, said about 100 seats on the country’s first evacuation flight were reserved for vulnerable passengers, including families with children, older people and those with medical conditions.
Two more flights were expected on Wednesday – a military aircraft carrying 180 French citizens from the UAE city of Abu Dhabi and a charter bringing 205 people from Israel.
“Our goal is to help repatriate as quickly as possible the French people who wish to return,” Caroit told French broadcaster TF1.
The US State Department vowed in an X post on Wednesday to help evacuate Americans. Earlier in the week, the department told US citizens to leave more than a dozen countries using any available commercial transportation options.
“Any American in the Middle East who wishes to leave: call the State Department, and we will get your home,” the post said, adding that 18,000 Americans had so far safely returned to the US, including 8,500 on Tuesday.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that nearly 280 citizens had so far been evacuated.
Britain said a charter flight would depart Oman late Wednesday to bring back some of the thousands of UK nationals in the Gulf.
The UK Foreign Office said more than 130,000 British nationals in the Middle East had registered their presence with the government since the conflict began Saturday, though officials said not all are trying to leave.
Ireland’s foreign minister said Emirates airline would operate a flight from Dubai to Dublin on Wednesday. Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said an estimated 22,000 to 23,000 Irish citizens were in the Middle East. The Irish government said it also planned to charter a flight for about 280 people from Oman in the coming days.
Norway’s Foreign Ministry said it was sending an “emergency team” to Dubai to reinforce a Norwegian Embassy team that was helping an estimated 1,500 Norwegians registered in the city.
South Africa’s Foreign Ministry advised its citizens to take advantage of the limited commercial flights after putting its own plans to evacuate citizens from some Middle Eastern countries on hold due to airspace closures.
In the Indonesian resort island Bali, about 6,000 people were stranded because their flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dosha, Qatar, were cancelled, officials said. Many of those affected were tourists from Europe or the US trying to fly long-haul via those Middle Eastern airports.
Scrambling for plane tickets
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Airspace closures and restrictions remained in place on Wednesday across most of the Middle East, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24. Notices from Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria said the countries’ no-fly zones would last until at least early next week.
The United Arab Emirates’ airspace is partially closed, and Saudi Arabia continues to partially restrict routes near its border with Iraq and along the Persian Gulf. Israel prepared for a phased reopening of its airspace that would allow arriving flights returning its citizens starting early Thursday. Jordan lifted its previous nighttime flight ban, restoring 24-hour operations.
Some of the aviation notices governing the closures allow authorities to reopen or restrict portions of airspace on short notice, depending on security conditions, meaning flight schedules can change rapidly as the conflict continues to unfold.
Commercial airlines have resumed limited service, but seats filled quickly. British Airways said its flights scheduled to depart Muscat through Saturday were fully booked and that it would add service “if we are able to.” Etihad Airways and Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, said their commercial flights were still suspended due to regional airspace closures, although both airlines operated a small number of repatriation and cargo flights.
Li Qian, a 44-year-old tourist from Hangzhou, China, has been stuck in Abu Dhabi with her family. She said she received repeated missile alerts on her mobile phone and saw smoke rising near areas they had visited.
“It was frightening … We just want to get home as soon as possible,” she said, adding that she worried about her mother’s high blood pressure medication and her child’s return to school.
(With agency inputs)
