M' East Crisis: Qatar excludes Nigeria from emergency relief flight schedule

Given the current regional tensions and the temporary closure of Qatari airspace, Qatar Airways has indeed excluded many global destinations—including those in Nigeria—from its initial phase of relief and limited flight resumptions.

The situation is fluid, but here is the breakdown of why Nigeria is currently off the schedule. Routes to Lagos and Abuja are currently not part of the emergency relief schedule.

The carrier is not yet operating a full commercial schedule. Instead, they are utilising limited contingency corridors authorised by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority primarily for evacuation and repatriation.

The limited flights focus on major transit hubs and specific cities with high numbers of stranded passengers (e.g., London, Frankfurt, Muscat).

Due to the airspace restrictions, the airline is operating at a fraction of its normal capacity. Nigerian routes (Lagos and Abuja) remain suspended until broader regional airspace reopening is confirmed.

Most of these limited flights are available only to passengers with Doha as their final destination.

Regular commercial service to Lagos (LOS) and Abuja (ABV) remains temporarily suspended.

The carrier in a statement made available to Aviation Metric over the weekend, stated that

its scheduled flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.

Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe, full reopening of Qatari airspace by the relevant authorities. We will provide a further update

According to the carrier, “Following temporary authorisation from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority confirming a safe operating corridor, Qatar Airways intends to operate the following flights to Hamad International Airport from London (LHR), Frankfurt (FRA), Paris (CDG), Madrid (MAD), Rome (FCO), and Bangkok (BKK).

“These flights do not constitute a confirmation of resumption of scheduled commercial operations. Passengers are kindly asked not to arrive at their departure airport unless they hold a valid confirmed ticket for travel”.

The regional conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran has caused severe disruption to Middle East aviation.

As of March 8, 2026, the situation for Qatar Airways and Etihad remains critical but has entered a limited reopening phase.

Qatari airspace remains officially closed for standard commercial traffic following retaliatory Iranian strikes that began in late February.

However, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) has established navigational contingency corridors for specific operations.

Qatar Airways is operating a fraction of its fleet. On March 9, 2026, limited inbound flights to Doha are scheduled from London, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Muscat.

Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi, is facing a nightmare scenario as the regional hub-and-spoke model collapses under airspace closures.

Estimates suggest that Gulf carriers are collectively losing over $200 million in revenue per day. Etihad’s share of this loss is estimated at roughly $23 million per day ($161 million per week).

While Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) has partially resumed operations, Etihad had to ground all departures for several days in early March.

The airline is incurring massive secondary costs due to rerouting. Avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace adds 1–2 hours to European and North American routes, increasing fuel burn by 15–20%.