Cathay suspends Middle East flights until end of May

Cathay Pacific has announced it will continue to suspend all passenger flights to and from the Middle East until the end of May amid the ongoing conflict in the region. Services affected include those between Hong Kong and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Flights to and from the two destinations were first cancelled on February 28. Tuesday's update from the flag carrier came a day after the Hong Kong government raised the outbound travel alert for Iran and Israel to "black", and expanded the "amber" warning to include Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. "In view of the ongoing volatile situation in the Middle East, and to provide our customers with greater certainty for their planning, Cathay Pacific's Dubai and Riyadh passenger flights have been cancelled up to and including May 31, 2026," Cathay said in a statement. The airline said passengers with bookings for travel between the SAR and the two Gulf cities up to the end of May could rebook, reroute or refund their tickets without the usual fees. Also in the same announcement, the flag carrier said it is stepping up services to and from several destinations "to cater for a surge in market demand to Europe". "We will operate three extra pairs of passenger flights for Paris and Zurich respectively, as well as upgrading 13 existing pairs of London flights to provide additional seats in April," it said. Edited by Thomas McAlinden