Kuwait International Airport suspended takeoffs and landings on 18 July after missile and drone attacks, and Kuwait's General Staff said the explosions heard across the country were air defences intercepting hostile targets. Sirens sounded four times that day1.
Kuwait Airways rescheduled the bulk of its programme. Emirates cancelled eight Dubai to Kuwait rotations on 19 July and two more on 20 July, Etihad Airways dropped EY653 and EY654 on both days, and Air Arabia and FlyDubai cut services too, all citing operational reasons2. Operations at Kuwait and at Bahrain International Airport were recovering by Monday morning, with passengers told to check flight status before setting out3.
Iranian drones reached Kuwait's airport for a fourth time on 25 March, on a night when Saudi Arabia intercepted 32 drones and a ballistic missile. Carriers largely held their schedules through those earlier waves. This time they are not waiting for a closure notice before pulling rotations, because an aircraft and crew stranded on a field that shuts without warning costs an airline far more than a cancellation booked a day ahead.
Kuwait works as a short-haul spoke feeding long-haul departure banks at Dubai and Abu Dhabi, flown at high frequency by narrowbodies that turn several times a day. Thinning that feed is the cheapest available hedge for a Gulf carrier, and it is reversible within a day if the airspace settles, which is why the schedule cuts arrived faster than any government advisory did.
