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- Some flights from the UAE have resumed following the strikes in the Middle East.
- 12 Etihad Airways flights took off on Monday, even as the airline said operations remained suspended.
- A Lufthansa A380 also took off from Abu Dhabi, but without passengers on board.
Some flights from the Middle East have resumed in the wake of the strikes on Iran — but the process hasn't been without confusion.
12 Etihad Airways flights had departed Abu Dhabi as of around 5 p.m. local time on Monday, even as the airline said operations remain suspended.
Emirates, based in neighboring Dubai, announced it would operate a "limited number of flights" on Monday evening. "Please do not go to the airport unless you have been notified," it added.
At 9:12 p.m. local time, an Emirates double-decker Airbus A380 took off from Dubai heading for the Indian city of Mumbai, with a scheduled arrival of 1:14 a.m. Tuesday.
Four further flights to the Indian cities of Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai were also scheduled to depart Dubai on Monday night.
Earlier in the day, the first flight carrying passengers to leave the UAE since the attacks, an Etihad Airbus A380 headed for London Heathrow, took off at 2:39 p.m. local time.
It was soon followed by 11 wide-body jets bound for cities in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
- Flight 41 to Amsterdam
- Flight 33 to Paris
- Flight 843 to Moscow
- Flight 294 to Karachi, Pakistan
- Flight 204 to Mumbai
- Flight 300 to Islamabad, Pakistan
- Flight 216 to New Delhi
- Flight 555 to Riyadh
- Flight 611 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Flight 571 to Dammam, Saudi Arabia
- Flight 713 to Cairo
About an hour earlier, Etihad Airways had said in an X post that "all flights to and from Abu Dhabi are suspended" until Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a notice on the airport's website told passengers to check directly with their airline before heading there, "due to the temporary closure of UAE airspace."
However, the site also showed several flights available for check-in.
In a statement shared with Business Insider following the departures, Etihad said that flights returning people to their home countries — or delivering cargo or repositioning the airplane — could operate "subject to strict operational and safety approvals."
"All scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain cancelled," it said.
Interest in the flights was high among aviation enthusiasts, with over 100,000 people tracking both the first Etihad and Emirates flights out of the UAE on Flightradar24.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
On Sunday, a Nepali national was killed, and seven people were injured by debris after an Iranian drone targeting Abu Dhabi airport was intercepted, officials said.
Abu Dhabi International Airport did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
All flights from Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait remained suspended on Monday.
A Lufthansa Airbus A380 also took off from Abu Dhabi earlier on Monday, bound for Munich. The enormous airplane can carry over 500 passengers, but an airline spokesperson told Business Insider there were only two pilots on board.
That's because the jet arrived in Abu Dhabi for maintenance three months ago, which has now been completed.
The spokesperson said Lufthansa reviewed the possibility of flying passengers, but it would require at least 17 flight attendants who can't be flown in "due to the current massive restrictions on air traffic in the United Arab Emirates."
They added that airport accessibility for any potential passengers is "unclear and difficult to organize."
"Reliable planning of check-in, security checks, and boarding cannot be guaranteed under these circumstances."
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