Iran strikes upend Middle East travel, pause Delta’s Tel Aviv service
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and other carriers have been forced to pull back on travel to the Middle East once again, as the fallout of the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran continues.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East were left stranded over the weekend as flights were diverted, delayed and canceled as the conflict began to unfold, The Associated Press reported.
Delta has canceled its flights from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel, through March 9. It also extended a waiver to give passengers scheduled to fly to Tel Aviv through March 31 more flexibility to change their plans.
Nationally, hundreds of flights between the United States and the Middle East were canceled Monday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com.
Delta and its peers have struggled to maintain consistent service to the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
After several starts and stops of service to Israel in the ensuing years given the changing security situation, Delta restarted its New York-Tel Aviv route in September 2025.
It has been planning to resume its Atlanta-Tel Aviv route in mid-April and its Boston-Tel Aviv route in October 2026.
A Delta spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the airline has no updates about those plans at this time.
United Airlines has also issued waivers across the region through the end of the month, after restarting service to Tel Aviv from three U.S. cities last year.
Flights to the second busiest airport in the world, Dubai International Airport, as well as to Doha’s Hamad International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport, were largely suspended over the weekend.
All three airports were hit by strikes and affected by Middle Eastern airspace closures, The Associated Press reports.
Etihad Airways restarted limited operations in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
The airline’s daily nonstop flight from Atlanta — which was canceled over the weekend — was still scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday as of Monday morning.
Qatar Airways’ daily nonstop flights between Doha and Atlanta were also canceled over the weekend, and Qatari airspace remained closed as of Monday morning.
Airline industry stocks, including Delta’s, suffered Monday morning amid the turmoil and concerns about ensuing effects on oil prices.
About the Author
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
