US-Israel Conflict with Iran Disrupts European Summer Travel Season

London, UK – Nadia Waleed, her husband, and their three daughters set off from London to Bali for their summer holiday, with plans to continue to Pakistan via a stopover in Dubai. However, the family's travel plans have been repeatedly disrupted by the ongoing conflict between the US-Israel and Iran.

Just days before departure, Waleed's return flight schedule changed, extending a three-hour stopover in Dubai to 18 hours. She spent two hours on the phone to find an earlier flight from Pakistan to reduce the wait. The very next day, another family member's itinerary was pushed back by a month.

“We even received emails about flight time changes while on holiday, forcing us to rearrange taxis and pickups,” Waleed shared.

Waleed's story is just one small illustration of a much larger disruption. The US-Israel conflict with Iran has forced airlines to abandon vast airspaces, pushing commercial flights onto longer, costlier routes and upending the plans of countless families, retirees, and honeymooning couples.

At Trailfinders, a UK travel company, the impact is stark. “The Middle East conflict has forced Trailfinders to rearrange or cancel thousands of bookings,” said Nikki Davies, a company representative, citing Dubai, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi – key destinations that also serve as major transit hubs for travelers to Australia and Asia. When the UK Foreign Office advised against travel in the region, the number of customers deferring trips surged. The advisory was later lifted, and Davies described an “incredible pent-up demand” for travel via the Gulf.

But the disruption seems to have shifted travelers' destination choices. “Europe is very popular because it's closer to home, with Italy, Spain, Greece, and Norway standing out,” Davies said.

TUI, Europe's largest tour operator, has noted a similar trend. “Typically, 75% of TUI's European customers book summer holidays within Europe. This year, the trend is even stronger, showing travelers flocking to package holidays that offer protection,” said TUI spokesperson Aage Dunhaupt.

Almost like COVID times

Last week, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency asked airlines to avoid Jordanian airspace following new attacks, and extended warnings for Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman through August 31. British Airways has suspended flights to Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Tel Aviv, and permanently canceled its London-Jeddah route. The twice-daily London-Riyadh service will also be reduced to one flight when it resumes in August. Virgin Atlantic has suspended its London-Dubai route for the upcoming winter season.

For independent travel agent Assra Satti, the anxiety shows in small details. A family booked a trip to Vietnam in July via Istanbul and wanted written assurance that they could be rerouted or refunded if the war disrupted their flights. Satti provided written confirmation for both options, and the family flew as planned. She advises clients to book everything in a single protected package, even at a slightly higher price, “because then the entire holiday is protected.”

According to Moiz Hamid, a pilot with Pakistan International Airlines, avoiding conflict airspace adds one to two hours to each westbound flight and burns an extra 2,500 to 7,000 kilograms of fuel depending on aircraft type. Some airlines offset costs by cutting cargo. Rerouting also causes frequency congestion, GPS interference, and increased workload for both pilots and air traffic controllers.

“Flying longer alternate routes carries its own risks, the biggest being unfamiliarity. In normal situations, you don't fly through certain areas, but now you must fly through areas assessed as safe by the company, operators, and regulators. Fatigue increases, and workload is prolonged,” Hamid said, citing the December 2024 shootdown of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 due to navigational errors from military interference as a reminder of the consequences when aircraft stray off course.

The ripple effects also reach destinations not directly linked to the conflict. Jean-Marc Flambert, a UK-based tour operator, said that in Sri Lanka, 77 of the 87 weekly flights connecting Europe to the island pass through the Middle East, and nearly all have been disrupted. “The early phase was almost like COVID times,” he said. Summer bookings this year are down 20-30% across the industry, hitting those who depend on tourism hardest.

Flambert recounted a fisherman who brought fish to his hotel, but no one was there to eat it. “What can the fisherman do? Dig a hole and bury it.” Families with young children are the most likely to cancel, while young couples and retirees accept the risk of longer layovers or missed connections. It's small comfort for operators like him, who are now running new routes through Thailand, Singapore, and India to keep customers.

Flambert himself is weighing these considerations as he books a family holiday to Tanzania via Emirates. He's delaying hotel payments as long as possible. “What if something happens? We haven't booked a package, so if the airline changes the schedule and the hotel is still booked, we'd lose the hotel money.” His two sons, aged 15 and 18, are “old enough to fend for themselves,” so he's willing to take the risk. “If we get stuck in Dubai for three days, I have friends there; I'll stay with them. No big deal.”

But he understands where the real burden lies. “If you lose $500, it hurts but won't kill you. The affected countries feel it most. So let's show a little empathy.”