The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority has suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country until further notice, after new US sanctions tightened pressure on Iran’s aviation sector. Iran then moved to bar UAE-registered aircraft from its airspace, a step that affects Emirates, Etihad Airways and Flydubai in principle, while Iranian flights to Dubai were cancelled from midnight.
The immediate operational impact on the main Gulf carriers appears uneven. Emirates and Etihad had already been avoiding Iranian airspace on some routes, limiting near-term disruption, but Flydubai is more exposed because it had recently resumed using Iranian airspace on certain services, including flights linked to Russia. Iranian media reported the cancellation of an Iran Airtour Tehran-Dubai service shortly before departure.
The measures form part of a wider sanctions-driven squeeze on Iran’s international connectivity after the latest US deadline passed, reducing the country’s options for overseas operations and adding routing complications across the Gulf. The UAE restriction was framed as temporary, with no timetable given for lifting it.