How to Get Home During Flight Grounding or Airport Closures

A political conflict or bad weather often causes airport closures and grounded flights, but if you are pro-active you can get home quickly. Here is how!

Airport closures

As we are seeing right now with the conflict in Iran, flights have been grounded throughout the Middle East and several major airports in the Gulf region, such as those in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Kuwait, have been closed, causing widespread disruption to travel.

This has left tens of thousands of passengers of airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways stranded, not only at their hubs but across their entire route networks, with passengers as far away as Australia and North America unable to board flights to their destinations or return home.

As safety must always come first, these airport closures are entirely understandable, especially given that the Iranian regime is deliberately targeting airports in the Gulf region to disrupt international travel as much as possible.

Still, it is a huge inconvenience for passengers, many of whom were travelling for holidays, weddings or funerals, business trips, or simply to return home.

What to do when flights are grounded

If you are one of the many unfortunate passengers currently stranded across the globe, or if you ever find yourself in such a situation, there are some steps you should always take to ensure you can get home as soon as possible or get your travel plans back on track.

Of course, how soon you can continue your travels will mostly depend on how conflicts or natural disasters develop, and on how quickly the airline can restore its operations once air traffic resumes.

Needless to say, this can take many days or even weeks.

If flights are grounded for five days for any reason, it could leave hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.

Airlines cannot simply put all affected passengers on the first available flights once traffic resumes, as this depends on the number of empty seats on those flights.

Sadly, in international conflict situations or during sudden airport closures or flight groundings, many passengers simply wait passively until their airline eventually rebooks them.

If you are content with that, by all means queue with everyone else and wait your turn.

However, a proactive mindset and proper trip preparation could make all the difference if you ever find yourself in such a situation.

Seek out alternative airports to fly from

When an international conflict breaks out or a natural disaster or inclement weather forces an airport to close, there are often nearby airports that remain unaffected.

For example, even though the current crisis with Iran has forced Dubai Airport to close, Muscat Airport in neighbouring Oman is operating largely as usual, with only regional flights over affected Middle Eastern airspace being cancelled.

If you are currently stranded in Dubai and need to get home as soon as possible, nothing is stopping you from taking a bus or arranging a rental car or transfer to cross the border into Oman and book an alternative flight from Muscat.

The same is possible by crossing the border into Saudi Arabia and flying from Riyadh, where the airport is open as well.

Seek out alternative airlines and routes

As soon as air traffic resumes, seats will be limited, and it may take days or even weeks for all affected passengers to be rebooked.

It is worth keeping track of which airlines still have available seats on flights out of the airport where you are stranded.

If your airline tells you that the earliest flight home is in five days, you can ask to be rebooked on another carrier that has available seats.

Sometimes airlines will only offer a reroute on a different carrier if you politely but firmly insist, and you can speed up the process by checking beforehand which options are acceptable to you.

Similarly, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just your home airport.

For example, if you are stranded in Dubai and need to return to Amsterdam as soon as possible, check whether seats become available on flights to airports in neighbouring countries such as Brussels or Düsseldorf, as they may open up earlier than on your original route, depending on demand.

Indeed, if getting home as quickly as possible is of utmost importance to you, you may wish to take the first flight out of the conflict area that you can book, regardless of its destination.

After all, once you are out of the conflict zone and at an airport with normal flight operations, booking a last-minute flight home should be relatively straightforward.

Other transportation modes

Even though travelling overland is clearly not an option for those currently stranded in the Middle East, it may be worth considering if you ever find yourself stranded due to an airport closure or grounded flights.

If you really need to get home or to your destination as soon as possible, nothing prevents you from booking a bus, ferry, or train if these services are still running while air traffic is grounded.

This was the case when Amsterdam Airport was closed due to a tiny bit of snowfall, even though buses, trains and ferries were operating largely as normal, as did flight traffic from neighbouring airports.

Don’t just sit idle at the airport.

Take out a map and check other transport options online!

How to handle your flight rebooking

Whenever flights are grounded and airports are closed due to conflicts or natural disasters, it is important to act quickly and stay up to date with any developments.

Above all, follow any official instructions issued by the authorities.

If the authorities instruct you to leave the airport premises, do so and manage the situation from the safety of your home or hotel room.

As thousands of other passengers will also want to be rebooked on flights, there are likely to be long queues everywhere, whether at airport ticket desks or on the airline’s telephone helpline.

Given that it is impossible to know which option will be quickest, you are strongly advised to use all these resources at the same time.

Stand in the queue at the ticket desk, but also call the airline’s helpline and check whether other customer service tools are available, such as dedicated WhatsApp channels.

Who pays for your flight rebooking?

An airline ticket is essentially a contract under which you have paid for travel to your destination or home, so the airline has a duty to rebook you and get you there if your flight is cancelled.

Ideally, you should ensure the airline rebooks you and handles everything, as it can be difficult to get reimbursed if you book an alternative flight yourself.

Sometimes there are clear regulations, such as EC/261 in Europe, which define your rights regarding rebooking and the airline’s duty of care in the event of a flight cancellation.

This regulation applies to all flights departing from an airport in the European Union, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland, as well as to flights arriving at an airport in the European Union, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland, provided they are operated by an airline based in one of these jurisdictions.

If an airline refuses to rebook you, or if the rebooking is not acceptable to you – for example, if they can only offer a flight in four days while seats are readily available on other carriers – you can always book the ticket yourself and claim the cost back from the airline, as the law is on your side.

However, it is important to check with the airline you are booked with first to see what rebooking options they offer, and only book an alternative flight yourself if their options are unacceptable and reasonable alternatives are available.

Good travel insurance can also help if you are stranded due to airport closures and grounded flights caused by a sudden international conflict or natural disaster.

Read insurance policies carefully though, and consider contacting your provider before booking flights if you want to be certain that you can claim these costs.

Tips how to prevent getting stranded

As always, prevention can go a long way in ensuring you do not get stranded due to an airport closure or flight grounding.

The current conflict in the Middle East did not come out of the blue, and anyone following the news closely could have seen it coming.

This is particularly true if you follow reliable sources on Twitter rather than legacy media, as you can be almost a full day ahead of the news cycle when it comes to international conflicts.

Similarly, you should keep an eye on weather forecasts or looming strikes to identify any potential issues with your future travel plans.

Although this is not an option for those with fixed plans or important events or meetings, some people may have been able to avoid being stranded by moving their flight home forward a few days when trouble was brewing in the region.

Having a basic understanding of geography, which is unfortunately lacking in many people today, is also helpful.

I have seen stories of people stranded in Dubai who had no idea that the place they were visiting was so close to Iran!

Understanding geography also involves knowing the flight paths your airline is likely to take to your destination, as well as being aware of the climate at any transit points.

Flying through Europe in winter could lead to disruptions from heavy snowfall, while transiting through Hong Kong in summer might be affected by seasonal typhoons, to give just two examples of weather events.

Fly with the right airlines

It is always helpful to be aware of alternative flights or travel routes that may still be available.

This is also where airline alliances can be useful, as flying with an airline that is part of one can sometimes make it easier to get rerouted.

For example, if you were originally booked on Saudia or Qatar Airways to fly home from Bangkok to London and are affected by the closure of Middle Eastern airports, they should, in theory, be able to rebook you easily via one of their partner airlines within SkyTeam and Oneworld, respectively.

In this case, Saudia could place you on a flight with KLM or Vietnam Airlines, while Qatar Airways could rebook you on British Airways or Malaysia Airlines.

When it comes to airlines that are not part of an alliance, premium carriers such as Emirates or Etihad are more likely than lesser-known or low-cost airlines to assist you by offering flexible rebookings and reimbursement of costs.

Indeed, the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already signalled that it will cover all expenses for passengers affected by the current Iran crisis, which will no doubt be handled most efficiently through Emirates (owned by the Emirate of Dubai) and Etihad (owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi).

Having frequent flyer status with an airline also helps, as it places you higher in the priority order for rebooking, and gives you access to a dedicated helpline and priority counters at the airport.

Of course, having top-tier status will be most helpful, but remember that even entry-level status is better than not being a member of a frequent flyer programme, as you are still theoretically higher in the pecking order.

Conclusion

When flights are grounded or airports are suddenly closed due to an international conflict or natural disaster, there may still be options to get home or reach your destination.

For this, it is vital to be pro-active and to immediately explore all options, and not sit idle at the airport waiting for the airline to finally rebook you.

Make sure you consider other modes of transport, or whether flights from or to nearby airports might still be operating and have seats available, and act as soon as possible to stay ahead of the thousands of others in the same situation.

Ultimately, prevention is best, as many situations in which flights are grounded or airports suddenly close could have been anticipated days in advance, giving you time to take action.