We've analyzed the flights scheduled, canceled and approximate number of seats canceled by each airline since Feb 28. These represent outbound flights only from the Middle East, not including Turkiye. You can roughly double this number for total seats impacted, and then roughly - very roughly as it varies by airline - apply a load factor by airline of approximate 80% to arrive at passenger impact.
| Airline | Flights Scheduled | Cancelled or No Fly | Cancelled or No Fly % | Approx. Seats Cancelled | Approx. Average Seats per Flight |
| (QR) Qatar Airways | 2,669 | 2,479 | 92.88% | 741,504 | 299 |
| (EK) Emirates | 2,796 | 1,581 | 56.55% | 644,133 | 407 |
| (EY) Etihad Airways | 1,615 | 1,320 | 81.73% | 344,123 | 261 |
| (6E) IndiGo | 1,055 | 803 | 76.11% | 161,768 | 201 |
| (G9) Air Arabia | 1,091 | 706 | 64.71% | 124,874 | 177 |
| (FZ) Flydubai | 1,242 | 718 | 57.81% | 122,586 | 171 |
| (IX) Air India Express | 700 | 579 | 82.71% | 106,673 | 184 |
| (LY) El Al | 585 | 525 | 89.74% | 105,851 | 202 |
| (KU) Kuwait Airways | 390 | 371 | 95.13% | 84,275 | 227 |
| (GF) Gulf Air | 452 | 437 | 96.68% | 83,124 | 190 |
| (MS) EgyptAir | 577 | 294 | 50.95% | 51,330 | 175 |
| (AI) Air India | 270 | 223 | 82.59% | 43,104 | 193 |
| (ET) Ethiopian Airlines | 267 | 183 | 68.54% | 38,912 | 213 |
| (BA) British Airways | 201 | 133 | 66.17% | 33,608 | 253 |
| (J9) Jazeera Airways | 186 | 175 | 94.09% | 30,275 | 173 |
| (SG) SpiceJet | 198 | 150 | 75.76% | 26,176 | 175 |
| (PK) Pakistan International Airlines | 266 | 117 | 43.98% | 25,577 | 219 |
| (WMT) Wizz Air Malta | 171 | 93 | 54.39% | 21,956 | 236 |
| (AF) Air France | 75 | 66 | 88.00% | 21,702 | 329 |
TOTAL PASSENGER IMPACT
We have created a rough estimate of the number of travelers disrupted from flying into and out of the Middle East since the war began.
Our rough estimate is that more than 6M passengers have been impacted so far from flight cancellations since February 28, 2026 to March 13, 2026.
- Assumptions:
- Based on an average load factor of 80% (typically defined as the number of paying passengers divided by the number of seat-miles flown), which varies by route and airline.
- An average number of 242 seats per flight — noting that some aircraft seat many more passengers (A380, B777, see Emirates, above for example), and those differ widely.
- Total cancellations from the Middle East to destinations not in the Middle East, and vice-versa. Accordingly this excludes intra-Middle East flights during the period, which we believe is more difficult to estimate.
TOTAL CANCELLATIONS
Below are the departing flights by day and cancellations, for flights departing from the Middle East. This excludes Turkiye, which has had some flight disruption. Double the numbers for return flights.
| Date | Flights Scheduled | Cancelled or No Fly | Cancelled or No Fly % |
| 2026-02-28 | 3,759 | 1,395 | 37.11% |
| 2026-03-01 | 3,830 | 2,504 | 65.38% |
| 2026-03-02 | 3,584 | 2,330 | 65.01% |
| 2026-03-03 | 3,560 | 2,341 | 65.76% |
| 2026-03-04 | 3,663 | 2,238 | 61.10% |
| 2026-03-05 | 3,798 | 2,178 | 57.35% |
| 2026-03-06 | 3,646 | 2,073 | 56.86% |
| 2026-03-07 | 3,503 | 1,871 | 53.41% |
| 2026-03-08 | 3,572 | 2,020 | 56.55% |
| 2026-03-09 | 3,322 | 1,591 | 47.89% |
| 2026-03-10 | 3,199 | 1,458 | 45.58% |
| 2026-03-11 | 3,390 | 1,671 | 49.29% |
| 2026-03-12 | 3,242 | 1,508 | 46.51% |
| 2026-03-13 | 2,944 | 991 | 33.66% |
| Total | 49,012 | 26,169 | 53% |
Accordingly, since February 28, 2026 to March 13 inclusive there were more than 98,000 flights scheduled in and out of the Middle East, with more than 52,000 flights canceled so far.
