More than 5,000 flights were cancelled in the first 48 hours of conflict. Major aviation hubs in Doha (288 of 308 departures cancelled at peak) and Bahrain (92 of 93) effectively shut down. Even as partial operations resumed, the world's busiest transit corridor — connecting Europe, Asia and Africa via Gulf hubs — saw passenger numbers fall 66% at Dubai International in March. Insurance surcharges and rerouting costs have made Gulf connections structurally expensive for the rest of the year.
The UK Foreign Office, Australia's Smartraveller and multiple EU governments have maintained elevated travel warnings for the Gulf, Israel, and eastern Mediterranean. An Iranian drone attack near Dubai International Airport's main terminals in early March — even amid an subsequent apology — proved that infrastructure perceived as safe can be hit. This kind of psychological damage lingers in booking behaviour for 12–18 months after a crisis, as seen after the 2016 Istanbul attacks and the 2011 Arab Spring.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) put a hard number on the damage: the conflict is costing the Middle East's tourism industry approximately €515 million per day, based on the pre-conflict 2026 forecast of €178 billion in annual visitor spending. Under a protracted conflict scenario — which Oxford Economics considers the more likely outcome — the region faces a loss of 38 million visitors and $56 billion in spending for the full year. That's not a dip. That's a structural reset.