Gulf airlines' fragile recovery stalled by Iranian drone strikes

Middle Eastern airlines cut flight volumes to their lowest level in more than a week after Iranian drone attacks forced diversions across the Gulf, jolting a fragile recovery from the air travel crisis triggered by the Iran war in late February.

The region is home to some of the world's biggest carriers, whose networks have been upended by Iranian air attacks that shuttered airports and redrew traffic routes across the Gulf.

Flights operated by Emirates EMIRA.UL, Etihad Airways, flydubai, Qatar Airways and Air Arabia AIRA.DU fell to near zero after the initial February 28 strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces on Iran, data by Flightradar24.com shows.

Since then, flights from the key United Arab Emirates, which includes major hubs Abu Dhabi and Dubai, have picked up slowly, though they remain well below pre-conflict levels, the data shows.

That recovery stalled on Monday, when drone attacks, which have since stopped as a peace deal is sought, forced UAE-bound flights to divert to Muscat in Oman or Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, while other inbound aircraft circled over Saudi Arabia.

Etihad and Qatar Airways drove the steepest drop.

Over the past two months, the recovery has not been even.

Flightradar24.com data shows Emirates is back at nearly 84% of its pre-conflict flight volume. The Dubai-based company reported on Thursday a record full-year net profit and said its strong cash reserves would help it stomach the crisis.

Air Arabia and Etihad's volumes are at around 60% of their February levels, while Qatar Airways and flydubai are at 51%.

The fallout from the conflict has reached well beyond the Gulf.

Soaring jet fuel prices have squeezed carrierswithout oil hedges, schedules have been disrupted across Europe and Asia, and airlines have warehoused jets and run lengthy "flights to nowhere" to reposition aircraft.

Air travel's worst crisis in years saw Qantas Airways warn on April 14 of spiralling costs, while Lufthansa said it may have to ground planes and Virgin Atlantic flagged a looming supply crunch as the conflict squeezed fuel supplies.

Gulf Airline Recovery https://reut.rs/41bqp2N

Iran Conflict: UAE Flights https://reut.rs/3N0l0s6

Iran Crisis: Flights to Nowhere https://reut.rs/4cSMzxX

-Compiled by Adam Jourdan and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Bernadette Baum/Reuters