When war paralyzes the sky
After nearly a week of chaos with a series of canceled flights and airspace closed, on March 7, Emirates airline announced the resumption of operations despite the war between the US, Israel and Iran remaining tense. This information is seen as a "lifebuoy" for hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded around the world after many days of international aviation systems falling into a state of congestion.
Before the crisis broke out, the three major aviation hubs of the Gulf region - Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha - were considered "intersections" of the global sky. Here are the bases of three major airlines including: Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. Their giant flight networks connect Asia, Africa, Europe and reach both America and Oceania.
Every day, nearly 300,000 passengers pass through airports in these 3 cities. About 2/3 of them only transit, continuing their journey to another route.
After Russian and Ukrainian airspaces were closed to European airlines since the 2022 conflict, the eastward flight path has become even more southward, making the Gulf corridor an almost irreplaceable transit route.
For many international routes, transit in the Gulf region is often the fastest, cheapest and most convenient way to travel between continents.
The situation changed suddenly when US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on February 28. Retaliation with missiles and drones forced many Gulf airports to close or restrict operations.
The chain reaction spread throughout the world aviation network. Passengers from Europe, Asia to Oceania were affected. Many passengers even had no intention of going to the Middle East. They only transited for 1 hour, but the connecting flight was canceled, turning the journey into many days of waiting in the airport lounge, amidst escalating warfare.
Gulf - the center of the aviation map
Emirates said it will resume 11 flights per day to 5 airports in the UK and restore about 60% of its flight network, equivalent to 83 destinations. The airline also plans to operate 22 flights per day to India and resume flights to 7 airports in the US. Etihad Airways is starting to restore part of its flights from Abu Dhabi, mainly serving repatriation flights. However, Qatar's airspace is only partially reopened with limited capacity.
Economic impacts could also be very large. The Oxford Economics research organization estimates that even a short conflict could cause the number of visitors to the Middle East to decrease by 11% this year, equivalent to a loss of 34 billion USD in tourism spending.
The rise of Middle Eastern airlines is associated with the ambition to make oil-rich countries a global center for trade, sports and tourism.
National investment funds have spent billions of USD on giant aircraft purchase contracts, building modern airports and promoting brands through international sports. A symbol of ambition is the Airbus A380 super-large aircraft - the largest passenger aircraft ever built.
While many other airlines are concerned about huge operating costs, Emirates has turned this "super aircraft" into a symbol of the giant transit network in Dubai.
Geography is the biggest advantage of the Gulf region. About 2/3 of the world's population is within an 8-hour flight radius from this area.
However, the recent crisis also revealed a reality: when this important air corridor was disrupted, the entire global travel system immediately fell into a state of disarray.
And the big question after the recent week of chaos is: If the Gulf corridor continues to be unstable, which path will the world take?
