West Asia airspace crisis 2026: how Indian passengers got home and what to do if it happens again
By Arjun Kapoor (Arjun Kapoor tracks error fares, mileage runs and award-chart sweet spots for Indian travellers. He moderates two Telegram fare-alert channels and has booked Europe round-trips at sub-₹25,000 four times in the last 24 months.) · Published · 12 min read
When West Asian airspace closed in March 2026 following regional escalation, thousands of Indian travellers were stranded mid-itinerary — in Dubai, Doha, Muscat, Amman, and at Indian airports waiting for flights that never departed. This is the documented account of what happened, what the airlines did and did not do, and what to have in place before the next disruption.
TL;DR — what happened and what it means for future travellers
In mid-to-late March 2026, an escalation in West Asian airspace led to the closure or restriction of airspace over Iran, parts of Iraq, and adjacent FIRs (Flight Information Regions), forcing airlines to either cancel India–Gulf and India–Europe flights or reroute them via significantly longer southerly or northerly tracks. Over 12,000 individual flights were affected globally over a roughly 72-hour peak period, with Indian carriers — IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express — among the worst affected given their heavy Gulf and Middle East exposure. Most stranded Indian passengers eventually got home within 3–5 days via combination of emergency special flights, rerouted services, and individual rebooking through alternate Gulf airports. The key lesson: know your airline’s IRROP (Irregular Operations) policy before you travel, have travel insurance with crisis cancellation cover, and keep a mental list of alternate routing options.
What actually happened to Indian flights in the March 2026 crisis?
The West Asia situation in March 2026 was not the first time regional tensions had disrupted Indian aviation — we saw it before in earlier Gulf crises and during the 2024 Iran-Israel exchange. But the March 2026 event was more sustained. Iranian airspace, which handles a significant portion of India–Europe overflights and some Gulf routes, became unavailable at short notice. Iraqi airspace restrictions compounded this. Airlines operating India–UK, India–continental Europe, India–Gulf, and India–Central Asia routes faced an overnight route-planning crisis.
What followed:
- Air India temporarily suspended several Gulf routes and rerouted others via the southern corridor (over the Arabian Sea and then up the Persian Gulf on a restricted track), adding 45–90 minutes to flight times and consuming more fuel than planned.
- IndiGo cancelled outright on several Gulf routes where rerouting was not feasible within crew hour limits or where aircraft were not positioned correctly.
- Air India Express, with its concentrated Gulf–South India exposure, was particularly hard hit. Some flights were diverted mid-air; others never departed.
- European carriers with Indian routes (Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France) rerouted via extended northerly tracks adding 2–3 hours to flight times, some cancelling briefly.
What did airlines actually offer stranded Indian passengers?
The honest answer is: it varied enormously, and it was often less than what the DGCA passenger rights framework theoretically requires. Here is what played out:
Rebooking without change fees: Most Indian and Gulf carriers activated their IRROP (Irregular Operations) waiver policies, allowing passengers to rebook onto the next available flight at no change fee. In practice, the ‘next available flight’ on many Gulf–India routes was 3–5 days out because the entire Indian community corridor was trying to move at the same time. Getting through to call centres took hours — app and website rebooking worked better for some passengers.
Full refunds: Cancellation-due-to-extraordinary-circumstances refund requests were accepted but processed slowly — some passengers reported waiting 3–4 weeks for credit card refunds. OTA-booked passengers had an additional layer of complexity because they had to go through the OTA, not the airline directly, which added further delay.
Accommodation vouchers: Mostly not proactively offered. Airlines at Gulf airports (Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi) where stranded passengers were concentrated provided meal vouchers at some terminals but few hotel accommodations were arranged centrally. Passengers who pushed at the counter and cited their airline’s passenger care policy had better outcomes than those who waited.
Special evacuation flights: The Indian government, via Air India (as the national carrier), operated a small number of special repatriation flights to bring stranded Indians back from the most affected staging points. These were coordinated through the MEA and Indian embassies. Priority was given to passengers with medical conditions, pregnant travellers, and families with young children.
IRROP policies: what they say vs what they deliver
IRROP — Irregular Operations — is the airline industry term for any disruption outside the normal schedule, including weather, airspace closure, technical failure, or crew issues. Every airline has an IRROP policy, but what it covers and how it is executed varies massively between carriers and between crisis types.
Key things to know:
- Extraordinary circumstances exemption: Airlines in India and globally classify airspace closure as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ that exempt them from additional compensation (beyond refund + rebooking). Under DGCA rules, you are entitled to a full refund or rebooking but NOT the ₹10,000–₹20,000 denied-boarding compensation amounts. The same principle applies under EU261/2004 for European carriers.
- Read the IRROP waiver page when it activates. During the March 2026 crisis, Air India published an IRROP waiver page on their website (the page URL is usually airindiagroup.com/disruption or similar) listing affected routes, rebooking windows, and the specific conditions. IndiGo did the same. These pages are the authoritative reference during a crisis — bookmark them rather than relying on call centre advice which was inconsistent.
- OTA bookings are slower to process: If you book through MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, Cleartrip, or a similar OTA, your refund and rebooking request goes through the OTA first, then the airline. This added 24–48 hours of delay for many passengers in the March crisis. For the actual ticket change, some passengers found it faster to approach the airline counter directly at the airport and request a ‘carrier-initiated change’ rather than going through OTA channels.
What emergency / alternate routing options worked for Indian passengers?
Several patterns emerged from travellers who got home faster:
- Route around the affected airspace via alternate Gulf hubs. Passengers stuck in Amman or Beirut re-routed via Cairo (EgyptAir) or Istanbul (Turkish Airlines) to India — Turkish Airlines specifically maintained Indian routes via Northern routing throughout the crisis and had available inventory. Istanbul–Mumbai/Delhi was a viable escape route.
- Move to a different Gulf departure airport. Passengers in Dubai who could not get out via DXB found that Sharjah (Air Arabia to South India) or Abu Dhabi (Air India, Etihad) had slightly different demand profiles and occasionally had seats 24–48 hours earlier.
- Southern routing via Colombo or Bangkok. Some India-bound passengers in the Gulf who were flexible re-routed via Colombo (SriLankan Airlines) or Bangkok (Thai Airways, AirAsia) to South Indian cities. Unusual and not cheap, but it got people home.
- Ground transport to a less-affected departure point. For passengers stranded in UAE, the Dubai–Abu Dhabi ground transfer (1 hour by car) opened up Etihad’s routes as an option when Emirates was fully booked.
The lesson: in a regional airspace crisis, the airlines that avoid the affected airspace entirely (Turkish Airlines via north, SriLankan via south) become unexpectedly valuable. Keep these in your mental toolkit.
What should you have in place before the next crisis?
The question is not ‘if’ — West Asian airspace disruptions have happened before and will happen again. The question is how prepared you are. Here is the minimum:
- Travel insurance with trip cancellation AND trip delay cover. Not just medical. A policy that covers trip interruption due to airspace closure or regional conflict is your financial buffer. Indian insurers like HDFC Ergo, TATA AIG, Bajaj Allianz, and Digit all offer international travel policies — read the specific exclusions and triggers around ‘political events’ and ‘force majeure’ carefully before buying. Some cheaper policies exclude the very events you need cover for.
- Know your airline’s IRROP procedure. Before you fly, bookmark the airline’s disruption/waiver page. Know whether you book direct or through an OTA, because your rebooking process is different in each case.
- Have 2–3 nights of emergency hotel budget mentally allocated for Gulf travel. Gulf hotels near airports during a mass-disruption event become very expensive very fast. Having the credit headroom to absorb this without panic helps you make better decisions.
- Keep the Indian Embassy emergency number for the country you are in. In UAE: +971-2-4492700 (Abu Dhabi) or the Dubai consulate. In Qatar: +974-44256600. These are on mea.gov.in.
Also worth reading: our guide on NRI Gulf worker emergency flight planning and Air India Express Gulf last-minute inventory. Use FlightGPT to search alternate routing options when direct flights are disrupted.
Frequently asked questions
Am I entitled to compensation if my Gulf–India flight was cancelled due to the West Asia airspace crisis?
Under DGCA passenger rights rules and under EU261/2004 (for European carriers), airlines classify airspace closure as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ — which means they must offer a full refund or free rebooking, but are not obligated to pay additional denied-boarding compensation (the ₹10k–20k amounts for long delays). If the airline refuses a refund for a carrier-cancelled flight, file on AirSewa (airsewa.gov.in) or via the Ministry of Civil Aviation grievance portal.
How long did passengers typically wait to get home during the March 2026 crisis?
Most Indian passengers stranded in Gulf countries got home within 3–5 days via a combination of direct rebooking on Gulf–India routes once airspace reopened, and alternate routing via Istanbul or Colombo. Passengers who were proactive in exploring alternate routes and had flexible tickets got home faster — some within 24–48 hours. Those who waited passively for their original airline to reschedule often waited longer.
Which airline maintained India services most reliably during the March 2026 West Asia crisis?
Turkish Airlines, operating its India routes from Istanbul via a northerly track that avoided the affected FIRs, was reported by many travellers as the most consistently available option during the peak disruption period. Turkish fly to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi. For Gulf–India specifically, Etihad via Abu Dhabi and Air Arabia via Sharjah had relatively more operational continuity than DXB-based carriers on some days.
Does travel insurance cover Gulf flight cancellations due to regional conflict?
It depends on the specific policy wording. Policies with ‘trip cancellation due to political events or government-ordered airspace closure’ cover will pay out. Basic international travel policies that only cover medical emergencies will not. Before buying any travel policy for Gulf travel, read the exclusions specifically around ‘acts of war’, ‘political events’, and ‘government-ordered closures’ — the phrasing matters. Compare on the insurer’s own site and call their helpline if the wording is ambiguous.
What is the IRROP waiver page and where do I find it during a crisis?
Airlines typically publish a dedicated page on their website during major disruptions listing affected routes, the rebooking or refund window, and the specific conditions. For Air India, this has previously been at airindiagroup.com or airindia.com under ‘travel advisories’. IndiGo posts these under ‘important updates’ on indigo.in. Search ‘{airline name} travel advisory {crisis name}’ or ‘{airline} IRROP waiver’ during the event. These pages are usually more reliable than call-centre instructions during peak disruption.
If my West Asia flight is disrupted, is it better to rebook directly with the airline or through my OTA?
Directly with the airline, where possible. During the March 2026 crisis, passengers who went to the airline counter or used the airline’s app for rebooking had faster outcomes than those going through OTA customer support lines, which were overwhelmed. If you booked through an OTA, you technically need to go through them for ticket changes, but approaching the airline counter in person during active disruption can sometimes get you a ‘carrier-initiated change’ processed faster. Keep your booking reference number accessible at all times.