Flight services to Dubai have seen a sharp decline in the past few days due to recurring restrictions on the UAE’s airspace, triggered by Iran’s ongoing retaliatory strikes on US bases in the Persian Gulf. The Emirates flight, which returned to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on Monday following the closure of Dubai International Airport, departed again for Dubai in the early hours of Tuesday.
However, the airline canceled scheduled flights to and from Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. Meanwhile, another Colombo-bound Emirates flight was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram for refuelling. It arrived at 3:47 a.m. and flew to its destination at 5:40 a.m. after refueling.
The Calicut International Airport, which handles flights to and from Dubai, has not operated any such services for the past few days due to operational restrictions imposed by the UAE authorities. On March 14 and 15, the airport handled seven flights to and from Dubai. On Tuesday, only one flight arrived from Dubai and none went to Dubai.
Although Air India and Air India Express flights to and from Dubai were also canceled on Monday, Air India Express continued its ad-hoc flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah as scheduled. Flights from Doha, Bahrain and Kuwait to Kerala are also completely suspended, while flights to Muscat and destinations in Saudi Arabia continue without interruption.
Published – 17 March 2026 20:18 IST
