Stranded: Nigerian air travellers stuck as US, Israel battle Iran

MMIAL

Nigerians attempting to travel to or from Qatar, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have been stranded following the ongoing United States and Israel war against Iran.

The situation has forced carriers, including Air France, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian, Air Algerie, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Lufthansa to announce mass flight cancellations.

After the airstrikes against Iran, the latter attacked US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, among others.

Passengers attempting to travel through Qatar Airways outbound from Nigeria were stopped from flying on Saturday morning.

Airspaces shut

Sunday PUNCH gathered that to a large extent, flights across Middle East countries were cancelled on Saturday, as several countries shut their airspaces after the US, Israel and Iran launched attacks and counterattacks.

The civil aviation authority said Syria closed part of its airspace in the south along the border with Israel for 12 hours.

Jordan’s Air Force was said to be conducting drills to defend the kingdom’s skies.

Kuwait closed its airspace, with its military later saying it had engaged incoming missiles.

Russia’s air transport authority, Rosaviatsia, said it was cancelling all commercial flights to both Israel and Iran in the wake of the strikes until further notice.

Nigerian passengers stuck

Earlier on Saturday, passengers who were already onboard a Qatar Airways flight told Sunday PUNCH that the airline deboarded all passengers over claims that the airspace in Doha had been closed.