23,000 flights cancelled and debris falling on Dubai hotels: The war in Iran is endangering the $12 trillion global travel industry
Over the weekend, a tree – shaped, man – made island that is home to fine – dining establishments and luxury hotels, including the skyscraping Burj Al Arab hotel, was affected. According to local authorities, four individuals were injured in the resulting fire.
The damages suffered by the hotels are just part of the story of how the U.S. – Israeli attacks on Iran and subsequent counterattacks have shaken the global travel industry. More than [number missing] flights have been cancelled globally since Iran’s first retaliatory strike, according to data from flight analytics platform Cirium.
Those cancellations—including in key hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha—have [effect missing] in the area. While some await government – organized repatriation flights to return home, others are willing to spend more than [amount missing] to travel to Europe from Dubai.
MSC Cruise said on Thursday it would [action missing], each carrying about 1,000 passengers, to repatriate its guests on the MSC Euribia, a 6,300 – person capacity ship which remained docked in Dubai as a result of the conflict. The cruise line announced earlier in the week it would cancel its three remaining sailings from Dubai in March.
“We understand that this will be disappointing, but we are sure that guests affected will understand this decision,” the company said in a [document type missing].
Taken together, these disruptions to global travel are among the largest the industry—according to the World Travel & Tourism Council—has ever witnessed.
“We have not seen anything like this ever, except, frankly, during the Covid pandemic, and that was very different. That was a health – related issue where travel was prohibited,” Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel consultancy Atmosphere Research Group, told . “This is obviously a war, a military conflict, and this has destabilized travel on the six populated continents of the earth.”
Disrupting the $12 trillion travel industry
What Harteveldt described as “unprecedented” about the disruptions was their sheer scale. While the Middle East has experienced its share of conflicts in the past several decades, attacks have usually been concentrated in certain areas. Iran’s counterattacks have [targeted missing], but also the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, and Lebanon, among others. The attacks have instigated not just flight restrictions, but [other impacts missing].
Countries in the area, such as the UAE, rely on tourism as a major industry. In 2023, tourism accounted for [percentage missing]. The Persian Gulf has [number and type of travelers missing], many of whom travel back and forth across the corridor on sub – three – hour flights. The Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest hub for international travel, saw a [change missing] in 2025.
Following attacks over the weekend, aircrafts and crew were grounded and displaced, leading to widespread disruption.
“You have hundreds of aircraft that are not in their proper places,” Harteveldt said. “And with that, of course, you’ve got pilots and cabin crew who are not where they’re supposed to be either.”
A resilient industry
Harteveldt expects the sector to recover. Hotel guests in the area [situation missing], and airlines have already begun to resume some, albeit limited, operations. Emirates announced on Thursday it would [action missing] of more than 100 flights until further notice. The UAE has opened a “[corridor name missing]” to allow airlines like Emirates, as well as Etihad Airways and FlyDubai, with a capacity of 48 flights per hour. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE minister of economy and tourism, did not provide details on how the corridor functions.
The biggest challenge to the industry in the near future, Harteveldt said, would be prospective travelers being reluctant to visit the Gulf and Middle East as a result of the conflict. The conflict will likely be contained, but Gulf region hubs that were seen as safe and reliable through previous skirmishes will have to convince consumers that they are still secure.
“The airlines, the airports, the countries, are going to have to take action to rebuild public trust in those institutions,” Harteveldt said.
Others in the aviation industry see opportunity—albeit in other places across the globe—amid the disruption. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary predicted tourism in the Persian Gulf would decline for the next year or two, but he said in a press conference this week he’s seen a [trend missing] for the Easter vacation period in particular. Ryanair operates smaller [aircraft feature missing] 737 aircraft almost exclusively across Europe.
The conflict, O’Leary said, would be short – lived, and he did not forecast fundamental booking trends over the next few months.
President Donald Trump “has a short attention span,” O’Leary said. “So he would want it to be over reasonably quickly or he’ll get bored.”
Ryanair and the White House did not immediately respond to ’s request for comment.