Ethiopian Airlines is facing severe operational disruptions due to the escalating conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran, which began on February 28, 2026. The airline’s business manager, Lemma Yadhecha, confirmed that the carrier is currently cancelling more than 100 flights a week to the Middle East and Gulf region.
According to borkena.com, some of the destinations used to have up to three flights daily. Dubai and Tel Aviv. Destinations like Oman used to have two flights a day. Cargo flights are cancelled too. According to Lemma, the number of passengers and cargo flights cancelled are over 160 per week. The number of passengers it was flying to the region is estimated between 40,000 to 50,000 per week.
The airline estimates that it is losing up to $137 Million a week. Ethiopian Airlines has made adjustment in response to the development. It has temporarily scheduled Airplanes that used to fly to the middle east to a different route – apparently away from the conflict zone. It aims to minimize the loss from the Middle East route. However, he noted that industry is standing to lose due to the war. Particularly, an increase in the price of oil is poised to harm the industry severely.
The United States and Israel started bombing campaigns against Iran last Saturday for which the latter has been trying to respond. At the time of this writing, Iran is said to have lost about 1300 civilians. Over 165 were children and they were bombed in their school grounds. The U.S. is said to have lost at least six soldiers. Israel has reportedly lost 9. In the UAE, at least three people were killed. The unprovoked war in Iran drew extensive criticism and many countries have described it as a blatant violation of International law. China and Russia are among the countries that opposed the war. Spain declined to offer an airbase for U.S. bombers. Trump threatened to cut trade ties to retaliate.
