24 flights cancelled today at Shahjalal, 391 in 12 days

Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka have been severely disrupted as several Middle Eastern countries closed their airspace amid ongoing regional tensions.

The Dhaka Airport saw 24 flights cancelled on Wednesday (11 March) due to the escalating war situation in the Middle East, bringing the total number of cancellations over the past twelve days to 391.

Due to security risks arising from the conflict, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan temporarily shut their airspace from 28 February, directly affecting flights operating to and from Bangladesh.

As a result, a total of 24 flights were cancelled today, according to sources at the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

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Among the flights cancelled on Wednesday were two of Kuwait Airways, four of Air Arabia (Sharjah, UAE), two of Gulf Air (Bahrain), four of Qatar Airways (Qatar), four of Emirates (UAE), four of Jazeera Airways (Kuwait) and four of flydubai (UAE).

CAAB sources said flight cancellations have continued since the closure of airspace. A total of 23 flights were cancelled on 28 February, followed by 40 on 1 March, 46 on 2 March, 39 on 3 March, 28 on 4 March, 36 on 5 March, 34 on 6 March, 28 on 7 March, 28 on 8 March, 33 on 9 March and 32 on 10 March.

With Wednesday’s cancellations, the total number of cancelled flights since 28 February has risen to 391, causing significant inconvenience to passengers travelling to and from the Middle East.