Qatar Airways confirmed it would cancel flight QR975 scheduled to depart Tan Son Nhat airport at 8.55 am on March 2 (Hanoi time) for Doha, affecting nearly 300 passengers.
Between February 28 and March 2, the airline cancelled nine flights between Vietnam and Doha, impacting about 2,257 passengers. Four flights were due to depart from Hanoi and five from Ho Chi Minh City.
As Qatar’s airspace remains closed with no confirmed reopening time, the carrier has advised passengers to return home and monitor updates via its website and hotline. Support counters have been set up at airports, and ticket change or refund policies are being implemented in line with regulations.
Emirates also continued cancellations on March 2, scrapping flight EK395 scheduled to depart Hanoi at 0.25 am for Dubai, affecting around 313 passengers. On February 28 and March 1, three flights from Tan Son Nhat to Dubai were cancelled, disrupting more than 1,100 travellers. In Hanoi alone, the March 1 EK395 service was also called off, affecting 412 passengers.
An Emirates aircraft landing at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Photo: Huan Tran).
In Danang, flight EK371 operating under “fifth freedom” rights on the Dubai-Bangkok-Danang-Bangkok-Dubai route was cancelled on March 1, affecting 39 passengers. Fifth freedom rights allow an airline to carry commercial passengers or cargo between two foreign countries as part of a service connecting to or from its home country.
In total, about 1,881 Emirates passengers in Vietnam were affected over the three-day period. The airline is allowing rebooking within 10 days or refunds under its current policy.
Etihad Airways cancelled flight EY431 scheduled to depart Noi Bai Airport for Abu Dhabi on the evening of March 1, affecting 276 passengers.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines said some flights to and from destinations including Bahrain, Dammam and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, as well as Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria and the UAE, had been cancelled. However, its services from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are currently operating normally, with no reported delays or cancellations linked to Middle East airspace restrictions.
Qatar and Emirates aircraft 'stranded' at Tan Son Nhat, unable to return to their home airports (Photo: Huan Tran).
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, as of early March 2, aviation operations in the Middle East remain complicated due to ongoing hostilities between the US-Israel alliance and Iran in recent days.
Several countries in the region have closed their airspace without providing clear timelines for reopening. Iran, Israel and Syria have fully shut their skies, with reopening expected no earlier than the end of March 3. Airspace over Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain remains closed with no confirmed reopening date.
The UAE has partially closed its airspace, with ESCAT zones expected to reopen by 7 pm on March 2, while Jordan has imposed limited and cautious reopening measures subject to hourly review.
Major regional hubs including Dubai International Airport and Hamad International Airport have announced indefinite closures following recent missile attacks between Iran and Israel.
Vietnam’s aviation authority warned that operations of Middle Eastern carriers in Vietnam, including Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways, have been significantly affected, with further disruptions dependent on military developments and decisions by regional aviation authorities.
Passengers have been advised to check flight status updates online before heading to the airport to avoid unnecessary delays.
