Because the flights have been canceled, many travelers will remain stuck in the Middle East for the time being, ANP reports.
According to KLM, safety has the highest priority. The company states on the website that unforeseen costs for food or hotel stays can be reimbursed.
Yesterday it was announced that a KLM plane was stranded in Dubai after the airspace of the United Arab Emirates was closed due to the attacks on Iran. Flights to the Middle East were also canceled for the same reason. Later in the afternoon it was announced that a flight from Amsterdam to Riyadh and Dammam, cities in Saudi Arabia, was canceled.
Eight return flights will be canceled in the coming days
People whose flights have been canceled have now been informed. “As soon as it is possible, they will be rebooked. We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” said a KLM spokeswoman. She indicates that the company will still look at options to get travelers and its own crew, currently stuck in Dubai, to the Netherlands earlier. However, she cannot say anything concrete about this for the time being.
The spokeswoman cannot indicate how many travelers are affected. The measure means that eight return flights will be canceled in the coming days. Hundreds of people can fit on a plane, but it is not clear whether the flights were fully booked.
Travel advice code orange and red
KLM currently does not fly through the airspace of Iran, Iraq and Israel or over several countries in the Gulf region.
The travel advice is orange for almost the entire United Arab Emirates and even red for the islands of Abu Musa and Tunb. The latter means that traveling here is not recommended.
Airstrikes also left major airports in the region, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, closed or severely restricted.
Several airspaces closed
Israel and the US launched an offensive against Iran yesterday. They want to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons. According to American media, the offensive could last days.
Iran has launched a counterattack, following which the airspace in several countries in the Middle East has been closed.
We previously reported that flights to East Asia would take longer, but this information provided by the ANP turned out to be incorrect.
