Some flights from the Middle East have resumed, but confusion still reigns in the wake of the strikes on Iran.
Eight Etihad Airways flights departed Abu Dhabi on Monday, even as the airline said operations remain suspended.
Nearly 100,000 people tracked the first plane — a double-decker Airbus A380 bound for London — on Flightradar24 when it took off at 2:39 p.m. local time.
It was soon followed by seven wide-body jets bound for Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow, Karachi, Mumbai, Islamabad, and Delhi.
About an hour earlier, Etihad Airways said in an X post that “all flights to and from Abu Dhabi are suspended” until 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
“Due to the temporary closure of UAE airspace, passengers scheduled to travel today should check directly with their airline before heading to the airport,” a banner on the airport’s website showed on Monday. However, the website still showed several flights available for check-in.
Flights from airports in Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait remain suspended as of around 7 a.m. ET on Monday.
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.
Etihad and Abu Dhabi International Airport did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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 it arrived in Abu Dhabi three months ago for maintenance, 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.”
