(DOHA, QATAR) — Qatar Airways kept its flight operations temporarily suspended on Monday as Qatari airspace remained closed pending approval from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA), leaving passengers without any confirmed reopening date.
The airline said in its latest update on March 2, 2026, that services will resume only after the QCAA confirms a safe reopening, and it scheduled its next update for March 3 by 09:00 Doha time (06:00 UTC).
Travelers with Doha-bound itineraries faced continued uncertainty until that update window, with the carrier linking any restart directly to airspace clearance rather than setting a timetable for resuming commercial operations.
Regional hostilities triggered the operational pause and the closure of Qatari airspace earlier on March 1, 2026, prompting the suspension and shutting down normal passenger flows through Doha.
The disruption hit key Qatar Airways routes between Doha and major Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kochi, the airline’s update said.
Commercial passenger services at Hamad International Airport remained halted, with the airport operating only limited humanitarian and state flights, according to the update.
Qatar Airways told passengers to check flight status regularly before leaving for the airport, directing customers to its official channels including qatarairways.com and the Qatar Airways mobile app.
With flights suspended and commercial services halted at Hamad International Airport, the airline’s guidance aimed to reduce unnecessary trips to the airport and to steer travelers toward confirmed status information before arranging transport or making onward plans.
For unused tickets, Qatar Airways said passengers can request rebooking or full refunds directly through the airline’s website or app, while customers who booked via intermediaries should work through their travel agents.
Travel agents can process rebooking and refunds under waivers in guideline COMMQ157, the airline said, framing it as the route for customers whose tickets were issued or managed through agency channels.
Cargo movements also faced disruption, with QR Cargo shipments held or rerouted via Muscat and Kuwait, the update said, and time-sensitive freight seeing typical delays of 24-48 hours.
That combination of held consignments and rerouting through nearby hubs created knock-on effects for shippers and consignees relying on Doha as a transfer point, particularly where timing depends on tightly scheduled uplift and connection windows.
Qatar Airways warned passengers to prepare for potential extended disruptions, with the carrier emphasizing that no resumption timeline exists beyond the scheduled March 3 update, and that the reopening hinges on the QCAA confirming safe conditions.
For travelers monitoring developments, the most authoritative signals remained Qatar Airways advisories through its website and app, any QCAA announcements on the status of Qatari airspace, and Hamad International Airport operational updates, with the airline’s next communication due by 09:00 Doha time (06:00 UTC).
