Flights Cancelled Around Middle East as 1,212 Cancellations and 1,304 Delays Disrupt Medina, Alexandria and Other Airports

With 1,212 cancellations and 1,304 delays affecting Medina, Alexandria, and other major airports around the Middle East, traffic has been severely disrupted. Thousands of vacation plans have been derailed by the worsening aviation crisis, especially in Saudi Arabia, where Riyadh and Jeddah reported remarkably high cancellation rates. Further operational issues have been reported by airports in Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and other nations. Airport limitations, precautionary airline suspensions, and increased security measures have been implemented in response to recent missile and drone assaults that threaten Saudi aviation infrastructure. As a result, flight rerouting, airspace safety alerts, and interrupted aircraft schedules put further strain on airlines.

Saudi Arabia Faces Severe Aviation Disruption as Riyadh and Jeddah Add to Heavy Cancellations in Middle East

Saudi Arabia is the most severely affected country in the supplied airport figures, recording 997 cancellations and 342 delays across 14 airports.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh leads with 569 cancellations and six delays. King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah follows with 179 cancellations and 210 delays. King Fahd International Airport in Dammam reports 89 cancellations and 58 delays.

Elsewhere, Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina records 38 cancellations and 32 delays, while Abha Regional Airport reports 31 cancellations and 20 delays.

Smaller Saudi airports also face disruption. Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport reports 17 cancellations and eight delays, while Taif International Airport records 16 cancellations and two delays.

These figures show that the disruption extends beyond major international gateways into Saudi Arabia’s domestic aviation network.

Which Middle East Airlines Are Experiencing the Greatest Operational Pressure?

Saudi Arabian carriers account for the highest cancellation figures in the airline dataset.

Saudia, Flynas, flyadeal and Riyadh Air Report Extensive Cancellations

Saudia reports 273 cancellations, representing 53% of its tracked flights, alongside 111 delays, or 21%. Flynas records 138 cancellations (57%) and 40 delays (16%).

Meanwhile, flyadeal reports 64 cancellations (37%) and 27 delays (15%). Riyadh Air records 29 cancellations, representing 100%, with no delays (0%).

Emirates, Qatar Airways and Other Gulf Carriers Face Delays

Emirates reports 15 cancellations (2%) and 122 delays (23%). Qatar Airways records 16 cancellations (2%) and 104 delays (16%).

Etihad Airways reports four cancellations (1%) and 106 delays (32%), while flydubai records 19 cancellations (6%) and 78 delays (27%).

Air Arabia reports eight cancellations (3%) and 52 delays (22%). Gulf Air records eight cancellations (6%) and 28 delays (22%).

Oman Air reports ten cancellations (11%) and nine delays (10%), while SalamAir records two cancellations (2%) and 14 delays (20%).

How Are Airports, Cities and Countries Across the Middle East Affected?

The United Arab Emirates records 409 airport delays and 78 cancellations. Dubai International Airport accounts for 220 delays and 62 cancellations. Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi reports 129 delays and eight cancellations, while Sharjah International Airport records 60 delays and eight cancellations.

Egypt reports 126 delays and 48 cancellations. Cairo International Airport accounts for 118 delays and 42 cancellations, while Alexandria International Airport records eight delays and six cancellations.

Qatar’s Hamad International Airport reports 116 delays and 22 cancellations. Jordan’s Queen Alia International Airport records 32 delays and 21 cancellations.

Bahrain International Airport reports 39 delays and ten cancellations. Muscat International Airport in Oman records 31 delays and 12 cancellations, while Kuwait International Airport reports 14 delays and five cancellations.

Damascus International Airport in Syria records three delays and seven cancellations. Istanbul Airport in Türkiye reports 192 delays and 12 cancellations.

These figures highlight the geographical reach of the disruption, although they do not establish a common cause for every affected airport.

How Are Airlines in Egypt, Jordan, Türkiye and Israel Affected?

EgyptAir reports 18 cancellations (7%) and 35 delays (14%). Air Cairo records two cancellations (1%) and 37 delays (24%).

Royal Jordanian reports eight cancellations (6%) and 13 delays (9%), while Jordan Aviation records two cancellations (18%) and two delays (18%).

Turkish Airlines records eight cancellations (0% when rounded) and 182 delays (12%). Pegasus Airlines reports three cancellations (0% when rounded) and 165 delays (22%).

Elsewhere, Middle East Airlines of Lebanon reports four cancellations (7%) and five delays (8%). Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways records two cancellations (3%) and one delay (1%). Israel’s Israir reports two cancellations (2%) and 36 delays (51%).

What Should Affected Passengers Do Now?

Passengers should check their flight status directly with their airline before travelling to the airport. Those with connecting flights should verify each sector separately, particularly when travelling through Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai, Doha or Cairo.

Travellers facing cancellations should contact their airline to request available rebooking or refund options. Passengers experiencing long delays should ask about meals, accommodation and alternative connections, depending on applicable rules and airline policies.

They should also retain booking confirmations, receipts and disruption notifications in case they need to submit reimbursement or insurance claims.

Data Verification Notice

The flight disruption data presented in this report has been carefully compiled and verified by our editorial team using real-time aviation records captured on 12 October 2026 at 5:00 PM ET (USA), corresponding to 13 October 2026 at 1:00 AM GST (Gulf Standard Time).

Primary Sources: FlightAware, local correspondent.

Editorial Verification Process: All reported statistics have undergone independent review and cross-verification by our human editorial team to ensure accuracy and reliability. Timestamped flight records, operational data logs and original tracking-feed snapshots have been securely archived for future reference, historical verification and editorial transparency.

Important Note: Flight-tracking information reflects operational conditions at the recorded time. As airline schedules, airport operations and airspace conditions change, minor differences may arise between the published figures and subsequent updates displayed by airlines, airport authorities or departure information systems.

You can also read our previous report on Middle East flight disruptions, published yesterday on our website, for additional details and updates.

Verified by Rana Pratap