Middle East Airspace

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William1102

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Hi All

Looking for some advice here, I am flying to Japan using Emirates next month towards the middle of the month.

With the current issues in the UAE, would it be advisable to cancel or plan to do so in April. Budget wise my only option is Ethiopian and Cathay

Anyone flew with them before?
 
I am sure by then the airspace will be open. There's no way the Gulf countries are going to allow it to carry on that long they're bleeding money, whether its helping change Iran, bribing certain presidents or whatever else lol.

I've flown Ethiopian a few times as its a fast connection to Europe. They're fine, their aircraft are pretty new (787s, A350s and 737 Max-8/9s). However they are NOT as premium as Emirates and ADD airport can be a nightmare sometimes - and probably worse now with all the increased traffic. But if your stopover is not long it should be ok.

Honestly though i'm pretty sure Airspace will be open. If not, and you've paid Emirates they will no doubt refund you or re-book you etc.

Cathay I haven't flow but I believe they're very good too.
 
neoprema said:
I am sure by then the airspace will be open. There's no way the Gulf countries are going to allow it to carry on that long they're bleeding money, whether its helping change Iran, bribing certain presidents or whatever else lol.

I've flown Ethiopian a few times as its a fast connection to Europe. They're fine, their aircraft are pretty new (787s, A350s and 737 Max-8/9s). However they are NOT as premium as Emirates and ADD airport can be a nightmare sometimes - and probably worse now with all the increased traffic. But if your stopover is not long it should be ok.

Honestly though i'm pretty sure Airspace will be open. If not, and you've paid Emirates they will no doubt refund you or re-book you etc.

Cathay I haven't flow but I believe they're very good too.
Click to expand...

I guess you're right I leave in 49 days so I am a bit stressed and do not want to lose travel time and money spent on hotels, While I have travel insurance I am not sure if it will cover me in an act of war.

Reassuring about Ethiopian. Would be nice if Emirates would refund like 2 weeks before so I can rebook on another airline if possible.

They seem to have opened the airspace for repatriation flights only by making a deal with Iran. Thing is there is even damage to DXB T3 which is the main terminal so not sure how that will go
 
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William1102 said:
I guess you're right I leave in 49 days so I am a bit stressed and do not want to lose travel time and money spent on hotels, While I have travel insurance I am not sure if it will cover me in an act of war.

Reassuring about Ethiopian. Would be nice if Emirates would refund like 2 weeks before so I can rebook on another airline if possible.

They seem to have opened the airspace for repatriation flights only by making a deal with Iran
Click to expand...
They will make more deals ... and more... etc. This is going to go one of 2 ways:

1. War ends soonish, airspace re-opens.
2. War becomes long and drawn-out, so alliances, and route changes are made to allow all the flights to resume but with longer routes into and out of the area - most probably South and then around whichever way they need to go. We can only hope its option 1!

For Japan you also have Turkish, Thai, Singapore and China Eastern that fly out or JNB. Although Turkish is taking strain picking up a lot of the extra traffic so their flights are pretty full, and thus expensive. Although Ethiopian could land up being the same...

I need to go back to Europe soon, i'm just gonna go Air France/KLM now. I'm not a fan of the 11h flights up North and then still connecting but guess we have no option, times are tough. I usually do a last-minute upgrade to Premium or Business if there's space.
 
honestly Id not worry about it, global air travel is rerouting over safe airspace and avoiding conflict zones,
(airplane insurance is a big thing, why KLM canceled flights to TLV)

if your worries about getting stranded in Dubai, Id really not worry about it, unlimited oil wealth ensures that
they will bend over backwards for you, if your a bit patient and understanding, maybe even give you a nice upgrade for being super.
if not then a very nice hotel and transfers ect ect...)

honestly if it was me, as I'm Israeli and id get asked a few more questions than most,
I would personally route via Singapore Changi and connect Japan from there, avoiding the middle east entirely.

not sure if that's a plan you could do?
 
The simple answer is that nobody knows when the airspace will be open again.

Personally I would choose to cancel and rebook on a different airline that doesn't use that airspace, if that's possible.
 
William1102 said:
Hi All

Looking for some advice here, I am flying to Japan using Emirates next month towards the middle of the month.

With the current issues in the UAE, would it be advisable to cancel or plan to do so in April. Budget wise my only option is Ethiopian and Cathay

Anyone flew with them before?
Click to expand...

RIP
 
Sinbad said:
I'd pick Cathay all day every day over Ethiopian.
Possibly even over Emirates too.
Click to expand...
It depends too on his status. As i'm Gold on Skyteam i usually always stick to them, Cathay is OneWorld and Ethiopian is Star Alliance so that might be a deciding factor too.

Edit - having booked on Emirates, i imagine it could be Skywards.
 
Unless you’re heading north, you’re missing cherry blossom season (if that was one of your reasons) anyway so might as well rebook.

IMG_1103.png
 
neoprema said:
They will make more deals ... and more... etc. This is going to go one of 2 ways:

1. War ends soonish, airspace re-opens.
2. War becomes long and drawn-out, so alliances, and route changes are made to allow all the flights to resume but with longer routes into and out of the area - most probably South and then around whichever way they need to go. We can only hope its option 1!

For Japan you also have Turkish, Thai, Singapore and China Eastern that fly out or JNB. Although Turkish is taking strain picking up a lot of the extra traffic so their flights are pretty full, and thus expensive. Although Ethiopian could land up being the same...

I need to go back to Europe soon, i'm just gonna go Air France/KLM now. I'm not a fan of the 11h flights up North and then still connecting but guess we have no option, times are tough. I usually do a last-minute upgrade to Premium or Business if there's space.
Click to expand...
Most of those airlines are either booked or extremely pricey.

Unfortunately we have no choice with airlines and now have to take what we can get, my first solo trip and this is how it ends up.

If only we had a competent local airline with good international routes....
 
Jet-Fighter7700 said:
honestly Id not worry about it, global air travel is rerouting over safe airspace and avoiding conflict zones,
(airplane insurance is a big thing, why KLM canceled flights to TLV)

if your worries about getting stranded in Dubai, Id really not worry about it, unlimited oil wealth ensures that
they will bend over backwards for you, if your a bit patient and understanding, maybe even give you a nice upgrade for being super.
if not then a very nice hotel and transfers ect ect...)

honestly if it was me, as I'm Israeli and id get asked a few more questions than most,
I would personally route via Singapore Changi and connect Japan from there, avoiding the middle east entirely.

not sure if that's a plan you could do?
Click to expand...
That was my idea to use Singapore but flights have skyrocketed for my dates.
 
William1102 said:
Most of those airlines are either booked or extremely pricey.

Unfortunately we have no choice with airlines and now have to take what we can get, my first solo trip and this is how it ends up.

If only we had a competent local airline with good international routes....
Click to expand...
I’ve used Ethiopian multiple times to Japan and the layovers have been either short enough that you won’t be bothered or long enough that you can get one of the free Addis Ababa tours (if they still do that). The food isn’t great but if you’re saving R5000+, it’s not a concern.
 
William1102 said:
That was my idea to use Singapore but flights have skyrocketed for my dates.
Click to expand...
plan B then? standby?
I mean conflicts and chaos open up opportunities, maybe even through the middle east, as I bet you a Lot will cancel flying there cause of the conflict, so they will fly empty planes, and big discounts will await.

I mean you can always try your luck with booking anyway and seeing what happens, even if you need to spend a day or 3 in DXB wined and dined for free.
 
Azbubu said:
I’ve used Ethiopian multiple times to Japan and the layovers have been either short enough that you won’t be bothered or long enough that you can get one of the free Addis Ababa tours (if they still do that). The food isn’t great but if you’re saving R5000+, it’s not a concern.
Click to expand...
That is true even when the bigger airlines are pricey they are very reasonably priced. Food I can prepare and just eat the airport
 
Jet-Fighter7700 said:
plan B then? standby?
I mean conflicts and chaos open up opportunities, maybe even through the middle east, as I bet you a Lot will cancel flying there cause of the conflict, so they will fly empty planes, and big discounts will await.

I mean you can always try your luck with booking anyway and seeing what happens, even if you need to spend a day or 3 in DXB wined and dined for free.
Click to expand...
Prices have actually come down on Emirates from when I booked in Jan, I would have saved R3000 if I waited which is unusual as in Jan I had to change my dates twice due to flights being sold out
 
William1102 said:
Prices have actually come down on Emirates from when I booked in Jan, I would have saved R3000 if I waited which is unusual as in Jan I had to change my dates twice due to flights being sold out
Click to expand...
obviously, the war hasn't done the UAE any favors, and they rely on Tourism a lot, now that they want to move away from oil,
if I was trying to get a good deal on hotels and flights in Dubai, I might book now actually, especially when there is a war on, as everybody want to get out,

just like the situation during covid was,
opportunity breeds in times of crisis, especially Dubai that can lower prices quite easily, as money gets pumped out the ground,

but thats me thinking with my Jew hat on,
 
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