Brussels Airport in Zaventem began the working week under intense pressure on 2 March 2026 as a fresh round of cancellations wiped an entire slate of services linking Belgium with the Gulf and Israel. Airport departure boards showed five inbound flights from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Israel marked *annulé*, with the corresponding outbound rotations pulled at short notice. By mid-afternoon, routes to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha had all been suspended, affecting Brussels Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad. Behind the disruption is the rapid deterioration of security conditions following the US-Israeli strike on Iranian military targets over the weekend. Eurocontrol confirmed that Israel’s airports in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ramon will remain closed until at least Saturday lunchtime, while UAE and Qatari airspace have been shut to most commercial traffic pending risk assessments.
![Middle East conflict forces wave of flight cancellations at Brussels Airport]()
Travellers scrambling for alternative routes may also need to rethink their visa paperwork. VisaHQ’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) offers a quick way to verify entry requirements and secure e-visas or embassy appointments for the new itineraries many passengers are now cobbling together, taking some of the administrative sting out of an already stressful situation.
Emirates said it would not operate Brussels flights “before Tuesday 12:00 CET at the earliest,” and Etihad issued a similar notice through Wednesday morning. Qatar Airways aims to resume operations once Doha’s FIR is reopened. The knock-on impact is significant for Belgium’s sizeable expatriate and business community in the Gulf. The Foreign Ministry told *The Brussels Times* it has logged “hundreds of calls” to its 24/7 emergency line since Saturday, mostly from the 5,000-plus Belgians currently in the UAE. Multinational firms with regional headquarters in Dubai and Doha have begun activating contingency plans that include remote work and temporary relocation to European hubs. Cargo flows are also disrupted. Forwarders using Emirates SkyCargo confirmed that high-value pharma consignments normally routed via DXB are being diverted to Liège or Luxembourg, adding 24–48 hours to door-to-door transit times. Travel industry representatives warned that the cancellations could spill into the busy Easter peak if the regional crisis escalates. For passengers, airlines are offering free rebooking or refunds, but consumer groups remind travellers that EU Regulation 261 compensation does not apply when cancellations stem from extraordinary security circumstances. The advice from Brussels Airport is clear: “Check your flight status before heading to the terminal and be prepared for last-minute changes.”
Travellers scrambling for alternative routes may also need to rethink their visa paperwork. VisaHQ’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) offers a quick way to verify entry requirements and secure e-visas or embassy appointments for the new itineraries many passengers are now cobbling together, taking some of the administrative sting out of an already stressful situation.
Emirates said it would not operate Brussels flights “before Tuesday 12:00 CET at the earliest,” and Etihad issued a similar notice through Wednesday morning. Qatar Airways aims to resume operations once Doha’s FIR is reopened. The knock-on impact is significant for Belgium’s sizeable expatriate and business community in the Gulf. The Foreign Ministry told *The Brussels Times* it has logged “hundreds of calls” to its 24/7 emergency line since Saturday, mostly from the 5,000-plus Belgians currently in the UAE. Multinational firms with regional headquarters in Dubai and Doha have begun activating contingency plans that include remote work and temporary relocation to European hubs. Cargo flows are also disrupted. Forwarders using Emirates SkyCargo confirmed that high-value pharma consignments normally routed via DXB are being diverted to Liège or Luxembourg, adding 24–48 hours to door-to-door transit times. Travel industry representatives warned that the cancellations could spill into the busy Easter peak if the regional crisis escalates. For passengers, airlines are offering free rebooking or refunds, but consumer groups remind travellers that EU Regulation 261 compensation does not apply when cancellations stem from extraordinary security circumstances. The advice from Brussels Airport is clear: “Check your flight status before heading to the terminal and be prepared for last-minute changes.”
