Dubai and Abu Dhabi Flights Face Severe Disruptions Following Heathrow Outage, Volcanic Ash, and Fresh Middle East Tensions

Flights at Dubai International Airport and Zayed International Airport are facing fresh disruption on Wednesday, with services affected by a combination of air traffic control problems in the UK, the Iran war and the volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Several arrivals into the UAE are running behind schedule, while some services have been cancelled, including flights from London Heathrow, Belgrade, Bahrain, St Petersburg and Auckland.

The latest disruption comes after a major technical failure that affected air traffic control systems across the UK on Tuesday, while fresh Iranian missile attacks on Jordan have added to uncertainty around regional air travel. Airlines are also continuing to recover from disruption caused by volcanic ash from Indonesia's Mount Anak Krakatau, although airports affected by the eruption have now reopened. Travellers are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.

A technical failure at NATS, the UK's air traffic control provider, caused widespread disruption at British airports on Tuesday. The problem affected the system used to process flight plans and resulted in more than 1,000 cancellations across the UK, with London Heathrow among the airports worst affected. The technical issue was resolved on Tuesday afternoon, but airlines warned that knock-on disruption would continue into Wednesday as aircraft and crews were left out of position. Heathrow suspended arrivals for the remainder of Tuesday night while departures resumed with disruption.

Several UAE services from the UK continue to be affected on Wednesday, including Emirates airline flights EK004 and EK006 from London Heathrow, which have been cancelled. Other Emirates and Etihad Airways services from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester are running behind schedule.

Fresh tensions in the Middle East are also affecting air travel after Iran launched a missile attack towards Jordan early on Wednesday. The Jordan Armed Forces said its air defence systems engaged 20 ballistic missiles fired from Iranian territory, intercepting 18. Two fell in unpopulated areas, and no casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, airlines continue to recover from disruption caused by the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau in Indonesia. Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has reopened following the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau in Indonesia. Volcanic ash forced the temporary closure of eight Indonesian airports earlier this week, affecting thousands of flights and more than 340,000 passengers. All eight airports have since reopened, although airlines continue to adjust schedules following several days of disruption.