Qatar Airways to operate repatriation flights from Doha to Europe as air traffic stays shut

By Parth Chandna

March 7 (Reuters) - Qatar Airways plans to operate a few repatriation flights from Doha to Europe on Saturday, but commercial flights remained suspended as the U.S.-Israel war on Iran has forced the closure of Qatari airspace since last week.

The state-owned airlines' flights to London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Frankfurt will be its first out of its home base Doha since the war escalated last week.

Commercial flights remained suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace, and overall air traffic remained largely absent across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs — including Dubai, the world's busiest airport for international passengers — largely shut for the seventh straight day, in the biggest travel disruption since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air Canada AC.TO said it had extended cancellations of its Toronto-Tel Aviv flights until May 2 due to the war.

Qatar Civil Aviation Authority had confirmed a safe operating corridor, the company said in a post on social media platform X in the wee hours on Saturday. Governments in the region had started operating repatriation flights on Wednesday as they rushed to bring home tens of thousands of stranded citizens.

Industry experts say that even if a ceasefire were declared immediately, normal service would not return overnight. Airlines would still need time to reposition aircraft, reassign crews, rebuild schedules and secure clearance to resume flying safely.

With airspace severely constrained, airlines have been forced to reroute flights, carry extra fuel or make additional refueling stops to guard against sudden diversions or longer flight paths through safer corridors.

COSTS SURGE FOR AIRLINES

Carriers have started to count the cost of the conflict as jet fuel prices have surged. Any hit to bottom lines will depend largely on how long the war drags on, but Delta Air DAL.N CEO Scott Kirby said the rising fuel prices will have a "meaningful" hit on its quarterly results.

Delta and the other three big U.S. carriers are looking at a combined $5.8 billion in additional fuel costs if jet fuel prices remain at these elevated levels all year, according to Reuters calculations. These carriers, unlike their European rivals, do not hedge against jet fuel spikes.

In a dramatic escalation on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender," remarks that could complicate any quick path to ending the conflict that has interrupted global energy and commodity supplies, and rattled financial markets. Trump made the remarks on social media just hours after Iran's president announced that unspecified countries had begun mediation efforts.