To add to this, if placed with other carriers, the cabin remains the same, but the fare class should booked into the lowest available (e.g., J Flex Plus on EK becomes Business Light on CX) fare bucket on the partner airline.

As for F to AKL, I tihnk SQ 285/286 has F cabin, although I am not sure if it has F in April? I did a random check and couldn't seem to find it.

SQ has F all the way through but not on EK's OAL list (if that matters).

QF/JL to SYD then onwards in J? Both OAL partners. Or CX as far as HKG then J?

Many thanks for the advice.
Having looked at EK's recent notifications, there's no mention of re-routing on other airlines. So, I can't see one of their agents offering this to me.
As it stands I can either re-book to travel at a later date or wait until the 28/2 - 15/4 date is extended so that I can apply for a refund. I'm due to fly back on the 16th.

Oh sorry missed that. EK68/448 is still scheduled to operate on 30 March and OAL is only offered if your flight in cancelled. So cancel and refund, wait and see, or fly EK are your options

To be honest, it's very unstable out there and I don't see any improvement in the foreseeable future.
If I choose to re-book & travel on EK at a later date, what guarantee is there that it won't erupt again and I'm back in a similar situation?
I think my best option is wait for that date extension and cancel.

Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating from sunny KUL, where popping noises at night are fireworks and not interceptions! :D

EK has loaded its updated flight schedule for 29 March until 30 April, with a schedule that's about 85%-90% (by my estimate) of the full schedule. Most multi-frequency destinations have at least 2 flights per day, and once-a-day flights all seem to be there as per random checks.

If you are flying within this period, double check your itinerary hasn't been jiggled with -- I had to move around a number of flights as the default seems to be moving you onto the next available flight (I.e. +20 hours instead of -4h on a daily flight).

I also have an F trip NZ to LHR for April. I have booked NZ to UK on SQ in J as a hedge - mostly J availability AKL to SIN to AKL but odd day with F - eg. 2/5 and F available SIN to UK - but very expensive. If not much more stable by Easter, I will refund or move EK flights. There is no guarantee it won’t flare up again, but think I will move single time to later in year and see.

Friend who is travelling BKK-DXB-BRU on 03APR has received an email now about their flight changes. It's an involuntary change (obviously) resulting in a later departure and arrival of +/- 9 hours.

To be honest, it's not that bad and I think EK is managing this very well. But -- since their original flight is basically cancelled -- can they now try to have it rebooked on another airline (direct flight, or another connection bypassing the Middle East) ?

I'm not sure what their policy regarding OAL is right now. Anyone has a recent update about this?

I don't believe they are doing this at the moment as of now -- until 29 March I've been told that foreign airlines are not being given landing permission in DXB or DWC, and this could very well be extended to include your dates.

Just made three attempts at rebooking the 03APR BKK-BRU booking on OAL.

Agent 1: yes of course, I will do that for you, providing there is availability. Couldn't find it on TK or CX. Then the line got disconnected.
Agent 2: no, only possible 72hr before your flight.
Agent 3: no, only possible 72hr before your flight.

So it seems they are only rebooking on other arilines within 72hrs of your cancelled flight. Just sucks that the first agent was about to do it anyway when the line got disconnected :(
Flights will probably be fully booked 3 days before on this busy route.

Stansted still showing as only 1 rotation which affects me late April. I’ll contact emirates and move to Heathrow I think. Very impressed with them generally, given the situation. Flying from Bangkok tomorrow and offered new flights if I wanted so I’ve moved myself to a much better timed flight no problems. All checked in online easy peasy.

A huge blow if true (don't have a WSJ subscription but they do have an article related to this incident).

https://x.com/asadnasir2000/status/2035717101902795022?s=20

I was booked to fly out from STN on 30/3 & leave for home on 16/4. As it was not essential travel, and it wasn't worth invalidating my travel insurance by going against UK Government advice, I decided to apply for a refund. I've noticed that the 4 flights I was scheduled to fly on have been taken down from the app.

Who is this ? He either does not comprehend englsih well or is purposely trying to cause a bit of drama. Most foreign airlines have moved their frames out of DXB.

The WSJ article states, and I quote:

I've now completed 2 round trips from DXB since March started, and was able to sample Y (x1) , J (x1), and F(x2) cabins. Some observations / me being nosy with the staff:

• Loads are pretty full in Y in all flights, most people are in transit. On my most recent flight in J, there were 3 pax (of ~300) whose destination was DXB, me included.
• Many people are moving or outright missing their flights. The manifest showed 40 in J, 25 showed up; 7 in F, 1 showed up, 286 in Y, ~220 showed up, etc.
• I haven't done that many F flights, however on both my flights the attendants mentioned more than once I could have a glass of wine from the J cabin as well -- not sure if they were pushing for it as they loaded lighter on the F wines, there was only one bottle loaded of the Poyferre which I drank fully about 3 hours in. The menu is also no longer bound in leather but thick like a magazine.
• There seems to be a shortage of F men's pajamas ? Both flights (MXP-DXB, DXB-KUL) only had women's pajamas (without the hoodie pouch) so I had to size up. I was 1 of 4 F pax on MXP-DXB, and 1 of 3 on DXB-KUL.
• The DXB F lounge in the B gates has become the only EK lounge (J+F) in the B gates -- the J lounge is closed & guarded (pics below). Within the F lounge, a small subsection consisting of the dine-in area and 3 couches + 6 armchairs (I'm not joking) are reserved for F passengers. If you are in F, you can also seat yourself anywhere in the J section.
• The DXB F lounge food to order is closed 2am - 4.30am for cleaning -- again, not sure if this is because it was Ramadan, because it's reduced service, or if it's normal. The buffet remains open during this time. Perhaps someone who is a regular in the F lounge can advise?
• DXB public seating areas & PP lounges are bursting. I walked past the C gates PP lounge and heard passengers being told 1.5+ hour long waits. It seems many people are showing up 6+ hours to the airport as they expect difficulties leaving. In the terminal, people are camping out on the floors next to their departure gates, however for unused gates the seats are empty.
• As an update on the train to the C gates, this is not the case -- the sign in the J check-in area pointing to the trains actually just points you to the long walking route that merges with the Y passengers going to the C gates.
• Although I upgraded to F from J Flex, I was given F Chauffer Drives (the BMW 7 series) on both pick-up and drop off from/to DXB. Both drivers mentioned that they were busy doing drop-offs, and that pick-ups were very rare.
• Gates B10 - B20 (ish) are hoarded up on the even-numbered side of the terminal.
• Fix Chocolate (originators of "Dubai Chocolate") finally have less of a line, if that's important to you.
• I was told that if a missile alert happens, all passengers are ushered to the ground floor away from the glass, however during the times i was there, I never received an alert, so I cannot vouch for its accuracy.

N.B. will add photos later today -- left the phone with pictures at home !