PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Oliver Sims cannot get back into the United States. He is currently stuck in Qatar after his plane was boarded.
“The captain actually said due to military conflict or military escalation in the area and due to airspace restrictions, we have to turn back. It was just pretty much widespread panic on the plane,” Sims said.
Sims is one of hundreds of thousands of travelers scrambling to make new connections and get through to airlines after the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel shut down much of the Middle East to air travel.
Tourists and business travelers crowded hotels and airports, with no word on when many airports would reopen or when flights to and through the Middle East would resume. Some governments advised their stranded citizens to shelter in place.
Shutdown airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha — including Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world — are important hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and the West to Asia. All three were directly hit by strikes.
@Water_sound_aviation, an Instagram account dedicated to tracking flights, showed an American Airlines flight, scheduled to go from Philly to Qatar, turn around over the Mediterranean Sea after 14 hours in the air and turn back around.
In Dubai, stranded travelers could hear fighter jets overhead and an explosion when the Fairmont Palm Hotel was hit by a missile strike.
Many were unable to get updated flight information from tour operators or Dubai-based Emirates, which suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon.
Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said it is hard to calculate the number of travelers stranded worldwide.
However, it estimated that at least 90,000 people alone change flights daily in the airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi on just three airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.
Airspace or airports in Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates were closed, according to flight tracking sites and government agencies there.
In a statement to KYW Newsradio, American Airlines said it has temporarily suspended flights between its Qatar DOHA operation and Philly. The airline said safety is its top priority, and it will continue to monitor the situation in Iran and make service adjustments as needed.
Meanwhile, long-haul carriers Etihad and Emirates have restarted limited service for the first time since the fighting began.