50 freighters stranded in Gulf as airports begin gradual ramp up

As some freighters resume operations and make their way out of the Gulf, about fifty widebody and narrowbody freighters — including eighteen 777Fs operated by Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways — remain stranded at airports in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, Cargo Facts has found. Much of the Gulf’s airspace has been closed since the military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel began Feb. 28. [caption id="attachment_57295672" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] About ten Qatar Airways 777Fs are in Doha. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] However, several freighter flights have been able to operate at Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai International (DXB) and Abu Dhabi (AUH) airports. Etihad, which has five 777Fs, has put four of them (39691, 39692, 60509 and 62744) back into service. The only one (62745) that is on the ground at AUH has been there since Feb. 24. Other departures as of 18:00 ET today include: A DHL 777F (66086) operated by AeroLogic to Leipzig (LEJ) from DXB; A DHL 777F (68148) operated by AeroLogic to LEJ from DWC; A China Southern Cargo 777F (67824) to Guangzhou (CAN) from DWC; A Fly Meta 747-400F (33731) operated by Air Atlanta Europe to Liege (LGG) from Fujairah (FJR); A Quikjet 737-800BCF (30643) to Delhi (DEL) from DWC; An Air China Cargo A330-200P2F (890) to Chengdu (CTU) from DWC; A Rom Cargo Airlines 747-400BDSF (27063) to HKG from DWC; and A Silk Way West 777F (67454) to Baku (GYD) from DWC. Qatar Airways Qatar Airways, the second-largest 777F operator in the world, suspended all flight operations since Feb. 28 and will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace, it said in a statement today. Twelve of the carrier’s thirty 777Fs are grounded in Doha (DOH) and Muscat (MCT), including the newest unit (70442) , which just landed at DOH on delivery Feb. 28. Five units are at HKG, the world’s busiest international cargo airport. Locations of Qatar Airways freighters as of 18:00 ET March 2 Carrier Type Registration MSN Airport Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFD 41427 AMS Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFH 42298 AMS Qatar Airways 777F A7-BTB 68064 BKK Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFL 62086 BLR Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFG 42299 BRU Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFX 66870 BRU Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFZ 66872 CAI Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFK 62084 CCU Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFC 36099 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFI 62083 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFM 62770 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFO 62772 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFS 66337 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFU 66339 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFV 66340 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFW 66341 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BTA 68063 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BTC 70441 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BTD 70442 DOH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFA 36098 HKG Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFJ 62085 HKG Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFN 62771 HKG Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFQ 66335 HKG Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFT 66338 HKG Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFP 62773 IAH Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFB 36100 KTI Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFF 39645 LGG Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFE 39644 MCT Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFY 66871 NBO Qatar Airways 777F A7-BFR 66336 OSL (Source/FlightRadar24) Emirates Emirates has five 777Fs at DWC, DXB and MCT. Six other 777Fs are outside the Middle East. Due to the current uncertain situation and evolving airspace restrictions, Emirates’ flights are suspended until 15:00 UAE time on March 3, Emirates SkyCargo said in a statement today. The carrier is placing temporary restrictions on the booking and acceptance of all new shipments for the next 24 hours to ensure operational stability and compliance with regulatory directives, it said. Emirates SkyCargo is monitoring the situation, engaging with relevant authorities and adjusting operations in line with the latest developments, and rebooking and recovery of impacted shipments due to the disruption are underway, it said. Locations of Emirates freighters as of 18:00 ET March 2 Carrier Type Registration MSN Airport Emirates 777F A6-EFV 68617 AMS Emirates 777F A6-EFY 68620 COK Emirates 777F A6-EFT 67462 DEL Emirates 777F A6-EFM 42231 DWC Emirates 777F A6-EFU 67463 DWC Emirates 777F A6-EFX 68619 DWC Emirates 777F A6-EFO 42233 DXB Emirates 777F A6-EFW 68618 IAH Emirates 777F A6-EFZ 68621 MCT Emirates 777F A6-EFN 42232 UIO Emirates 777F A6-EFS 42234 GRU (Source/FlightRadar24) Other Middle Eastern carriers Four other operators based in the Middle East also have freighters stuck in the region. Specifically, UAE-based SolitAir’s two 737-800BCFs (33567 and 33023) and one 737-800BDSF (34014) are at DWC, while Fly Vaayu, also based in the UAE, has one A320-200P2F (2164) in Ras Al Khaimah (RKT) and another (2288) at AUH. Fly Vaayu hopes to resume operations March 3, it told Cargo Facts . Elsewhere, Bahrain-based carriers Texel Air and DHL International have three 737-800BCFs and four 767-300Fs in Bahrain (BAH), DXB, MCT and Kuwait (KWI). Locations of other Middle Eastern freighters as of 18:00 ET March 2 Carrier Type Registration MSN Airport DHL International 767-300BCF A9C-DHAA 33083 BAH DHL International 767-300BDSF A9C-DHAC 29603 BAH DHL International 767-300BDSF A9C-DHT 33086 BAH DHL International 767-300BDSF A9C-DHAB 29606 KWI DHL International 767-300BDSF A9C-DHS 33087 MCT Texel Air 737-800BCF A9C-TXY 29374 BAH Texel Air 737-800BCF A9C-JNC 30672 BAH Texel Air 737-800BCF A9C-TXZ 33804 DXB SolitAir 737-800BDSF A6-SHA 34014 DWC SolitAir 737-800BCF A6-SHC 33567 DWC SolitAir 737-800BCF A6-SHO 33023 DWC Fly Vaayu A320-200P2F A6-RMA 2288 AUH FlyVaayu A320-200P2F A6-MVA 2164 RKT (Source/FlightRadar24) Foreign operators Of the twenty-three other freighters stranded in the region that are in service with carriers based outside the Middle East, sixteen are at DWC, while three remain at AUH, and two each are at BAH and Sharjah (SHJ). Locations of other stranded freighters as of 18:00 ET March 2 Carrier Type Registration MSN Airport Aerotranscargo 747-400BDSF ER-JAI 26562 DWC Air Atlanta (Fly Meta) 747-400BDSF 9H-WFF 26343 DWC Air Eagle 737-300BDSF AP-BNW 25263 DWC ASL Airlines Ireland 747-400F OE-IFD 33945 DWC ASL Airlines Ireland 737-800BCF EL-HRB 32686 DWC ASL Airlines Ireland 737-800BCF EL-HRG 34251 DWC ASL Airlines Ireland 737-800BCF EL-HRF 30879 DWC Cargolux 747-8F LX-VCM 61169 DWC Challenge Group 767-300BDSF 9H-CAD 30301 DWC Compass Air Cargo 737-800SF LZ-CXD 34800 DWC FedEx 777F N874FD 66263 DWC FedEx 777F N894FD 41737 DWC IndiGo A321-200P2F VT-IKX 3334 DWC Kalitta Air 777-300ERSF N790CK 33865 DWC Kalitta Air 747-400F N700CK 25868 DWC My Freighter 757-200PCF UK75001 32386 DWC Atlas Air 777F N722GT 69788 AUH One Air 747-400BDSF G-ONEE 24998 AUH SkyGuard 757-200PCF UK75057 28833 AUH AeroLogic (DHL) 777F D-AALB 36002 BAH EAT Leipzig (DHL) A330-200F D-ALEJ 1772 BAH Air Atlanta 747-400F 9H-AKJ 28263 SHJ Singapore Airlines 747-400F 9V-SFI 28027 SHJ (Source/FlightRadar24) Despite flying one 747-400F (33731) away from FJR, Air Atlanta Europe still has one 747-400BDSF (26343) — also in CMI service for Fly Meta — at DWC. “All other flights are operating more or less as scheduled, although re-routes and re-timings are common,” Air Atlanta Chief Executive Baldvin Hermannsson told Cargo Facts . “By Monday, it will only have been two EU/HKG rotations cancelled, but more irregularities are certainly expected in the coming days.” Another Air Atlanta 747-400F (28263) is in SHJ, where it arrived in January for maintenance. One of Challenge Group’s 767-300BDSFs (30301) is also at DWC. “As the current situation is still uncertain and quite fluid, our focus is on stabilizing our operations,” Challenge Group Chief Commercial Officer Or Zak told Cargo Facts . Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in 2026, the next of which is <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://cargofactsevents.com/asia/?utm_campaign=22235567-CF%20Asia%202026&utm_source=Editorial&utm_medium=article%20event%20footer&utm_term=CF%20website&utm_content=Learn%20More&utm_source=Weekly+Update+-+Cargo+Facts&utm_campaign=fbe548904b-CF+Update_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_621baa6827-fbe548904b-40083601&mc_cid=fbe548904b&mc_eid=adbe8bb0b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cargo Facts Asia on March 23-25. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

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