Flight refund due to war in the Middle East

Hello, Hi there,

I have a flight scheduled for next week with a layover in Muscat (Oman Air). Given the current situation in the region, can I request a refund for my ticket based on the risks involved?

Thanks for your helpful comments! :)

Good evening,

Based on what we can see on Flightradar, all flights from Europe to the Arabian Peninsula are avoiding the region affected by the current situation, flying around it to the south via Egypt. The map is quite clear: not a single flight over Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or Israel. So there’s no risk—flight times are just extended by about 45-60 minutes, that’s all.

Thanks for your reply,

Sure enough, checking the routes, the flights do go through Egypt before reaching Oman via Saudi Arabia. The only downside is that we end up right in the path of potential Houthi fire toward Israel 😐.

The only downside is that we’re right in the path of potential Houthi fire toward Israel 😐.

True, but that’s not new—it must’ve been the case when you bought your ticket... Still, I figure if the Houthi risk spikes these days, airlines would reroute around the Arabian Peninsula via southern Yemen before heading north again.

I think with departure so soon and airlines taking precautions, a refund request for this reason would have little chance of success—or you’d lose quite a bit of $$$ in the process.

Yeah, a big detour if we go around the south: I think we could easily add 2 hours to the original duration. Thanks Songsam for your cooperation (you really got what I meant ;))

Hi,

Any cancellation request from the traveler must comply with the terms and conditions of the purchased ticket. Airlines are unfortunately used to managing this kind of situation by rerouting around risk zones. However, if the airline cancels its flights, that’s a different story and issue because there will always be passengers who want to travel no matter the situation.