Several Asian airlines, including Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines, are extending flight suspensions to the Middle East until the end of this year or into next year, citing ongoing uncertainty.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways last week extended the cancellation of its flights to Dubai and Riyadh till Jan. 31 next year.
Singapore Airlines said on Oct. 1 that flights between Singapore and Dubai would remain canceled until Dec. 1, while Scoot extended cancellations on its Singapore-Jeddah route until Dec. 2, The Straits Times reported.
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A Singapore Airlines plane about to land on Singapore’s Changi Airport, July 2023. Photo by Reuters |
Singapore Airlines postponed the launch of its services to the Saudi capital Riyadh until March 28 next year, citing the conflict in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported.
One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack at Riyadh’s international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, Reuters reported.
Operations at Riyadh’s airport have shut down for several hours and restarted multiple times during the past few days, as incoming attacks from Houthis make it unsafe for planes to land or take off from there.