
Emirates
Dubai's long-haul airline, which cut Kuwait flights after attacks shut its airport.
Last refreshed: 20 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Emirates
Mentioned in: Four Arab capitals call for the June ceasefire
Iran Conflict 2026Cancelled ten Dubai to Kuwait rotations across 19 and 20 July
Iran Conflict 2026: Kuwait's airport shuts as Gulf carriers retreatBackground
Emirates is the Dubai-based long-haul airline of the Emirates Group, operating a wide-body fleet out of Dubai International Airport (DXB) to destinations across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. It is one of the largest carriers in the Gulf and a major connecting hub for east-west travel, competing directly with Etihad, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines for transfer traffic.
Emirates cancelled eight Dubai to Kuwait rotations on 19 July and two more on 20 July as the war disrupted Gulf air traffic. The airline cited operational reasons rather than naming the strikes directly.
It was one of several regional carriers to cut Kuwait services after missile and drone attacks shut Kuwait International Airport on 18 July; Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and Kuwait's own flag carrier all rescheduled or dropped flights over the same period, and operations across the wider Gulf, including at Bahrain International Airport, were only recovering by the following Monday.
The scale of the disruption, a major long-haul hub cutting flights to a neighbouring capital rather than a smaller regional carrier doing so, illustrates how the war has reached commercial aviation across the Gulf well beyond the states directly exchanging fire, adding a further cost, alongside soaring war-risk shipping insurance, to countries with no combat role in the conflict.