STORY: Tourists with flights bound for Middle Eastern airspaces were stranded in Indonesia's I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport in the resort island of Bali on Sunday (March 1), a day after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian missile retaliation rippled through the region, unleashing one of the most severe disruptions to global aviation in years.

At least 1,000 passengers were impacted after five flights were postponed or cancelled at the Bali airport, according to the airport's communication official Gede Eka Sandi Asmadi.

Key transit airports including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Doha in Qatar, were shut or severely restricted as much of the region’s airspace remained closed, with the Gulf grappling with uncertainty after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday (February 28).

Dubai International Airport sustained damage during Iran's attacks, while airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit. Thousands of flights have been affected across the Middle East since the U.S. first launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, according to data on FlightAware, a flight tracking platform.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: BALI, INDONESIA (MARCH 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. DEPARTURE GATE AT I GUSTI NGURAH RAI AIRPORT IN BALI

2. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING IN FRONT OF EMIRATES CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICE

3. DEPARTURE INFORMATION BOARD

4. BOARD SHOWING FLIGHTS BOUND FOR DOHA AND ABU DHABI

5. BOARD SHOWING ONE FLIGHT CANCELLED AND OTHERS AVAILABLE FOR CHECK-IN

6. PEOPLE SPEAKING TO CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICERS

7. PEOPLE SITTING IN WAITING AREA

8. PERSON CHECKING FLIGHT STATUS AND UPDATES FROM QATAR AIRWAYS ON MOBILE PHONE

9. FRENCH TOURIST LIONEL NANKEP

10. NANKEP'S LUGGAGE

11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH TOURIST, LIONEL NANKEP, SAYING:

"(I asked) is the airspace closed? ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ But anyway, it doesn't matter. We're waiting here. We slept at the airport. We've been here since 10 p.m. yesterday (1400 GMT February 28). And now it's almost 1 p.m. (0500 GMT), still no news, so we're waiting.”

12. NANKEP AND FRIEND SITTING

13. PERSON SEATED AND WAITING

14. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH TOURIST, LIONEL NANKEP, SAYING:

"Yes, in fact, we tried to contact members of our family and loved ones from Paris. And they were the ones who tried to do what was necessary from Paris to try to contact Qatar Airways. But again, they struggled because all the lines were jammed, all the lines were busy, impossible to get through."

15. VARIOUS OF STRANDED PASSENGERS SPEAKING TO AIRLINE OFFICIALS

16. PEOPLE CROWDING EMIRATES OFFICE

17. STRANDED TOURISTS SPEAKING TO OFFICIAL

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BULGARIAN TOURIST, ANDREANA LAZAROVA, SAYING:

"We're trying to get some information on our flight that's tomorrow night, we don't have any information, no one's sending us anything. We cannot get into contact with anyone. We're trying to go home, that's the only thing that we want. We're trying to avoid any conflict but we're really worried because we don't have anything to know right now."

19. LAZAROVA WITH FRIENDS

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BULGARIAN TOURIST, ANDREANA LAZAROVA, SAYING:

"I think that we'll try to keep ourselves safe, I think that's the most important thing right now. And hope for the best, I don't know.”

21. VARIOUS OF STRANDED PASSENGERS WAITING

22. DEPARTURE INFORMATION BOARD

23. PASSENGERS WAITING AT DEPARTURE GATE

24. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) I GUSTI NGURAH RAI AIRPORT COMMUNICATION AND LEGAL DIVISION CHIEF, GEDE EKA SANDI ASMADI, SAYING:

"In I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport, there have been five flights impacted by the airspace closure in some countries, which are two Emirates flight flying from Denpasar to Dubai, Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi, and Qatar Airways to Doha."

25. PEOPLE AT DEPARTURE INFORMATION DESK

26. WOMAN SPEAKING TO AIRPORT OFFICIAL

27. DEPARTURE INFORMATION BOARD