This. Itchy air defence operators in UAE as well you don't want to be anywhere near that airspace.

Only the Middle East 3 would do this as they don't require the insurance that western airlines do...the Gov will cover any hull loses....

Data point: I was able to move my flight on the Gold/Plat whatsapp chat in 3 minutes, for a flight on 8 March to 15 March using the one-time free voluntary change.

(Yes, I'm optimsitic. I am also trying to avoid an Eid travel rush).

A question about an upcoming flight from the UK.
 

Dear All,
This is just a query in the hope that someone out there will have an answer.
I'm due to fly STN - DXB - AKL at the end of the month. The way things are right now I don't think it's going to happen, so I reckon I'll to have to change my travel plans.
I'm not going to cancel, but just postpone the trip. Will I be allowed to choose a date either later in the year or early next year if can re-book?
Thank you in advance and let's hope things get back to normal sooner rather than later.
Cypress.

I've just messaged EK about a journey booked for next week. This is their reply:

Thank you for that.
I guess it'll be a case of wait and see what happens nearer the time I'm due to travel.

I am dealing with the exact same situation.

So simply do nothing and wait for an email from Emirates?

Oh dear. Not very reassuring, is it?

With all due respect, things can change rapidly and in the grand scheme of things the 20th is fairly far away .

There are already some EK flights in the air, and it's in Emirates best interest to get things back up in running as soon as possible.

I'm travelling 10th and I don't see a point in trying to predict what the state of the airline will be until a few days before.

It seems a bit of a conundrum for the airline. On the one hand they probably don't want to loose customers by allowing them to cancel and find a different way to their destination (excluding O/D traffic), on the other hand, there will be many thousands of passengers who need to be accommodated on later, existing flights that may have very limited availability. How do they deal with those?
My personal best solution would be that you can 'bank' an exiting ticket (as was the case in Covid times). Those passengers would come back at some time, if they just cancel they may be lost for a long time (at least until the ME becomes 'palatable' again). We are supposed to fly on 9 March. I don't see that happen. But as the flight is not cancelled, I can't do anything. Someone I know was supposed to fly at 13:30 today, he got an email at 08:17 to tell him his flight was cancelled. Bit late, it seems (Plat member, flying F).

Their status and class of travel is pretty irrelevant at this point in time

I successfully changed my ticket on 8 March using the Whatsapp chat to the 15th, give it a try?

For whoever was still wondering, Emirates have now put an official line on full refunds on their website:

"How can I request a refund?
If your flight has been cancelled or you choose not to travel on a flight currently booked on or before Tuesday 10 March, you can request a refund without any fees. If your trip includes multiple legs, you can request a refund without any fees for any unused part of the journey – i.e. onward travel via Dubai.
To process your refund, please fill out this form if you booked directly with Emirates; alternatively, if you booked via a travel agent, please contact them to process your refund.
Please do not try to refund your flight via Manage My Booking as this may show cancellation fees."

Free rebooking seems to be limited to March 5th still:

"If you are booked on a flight scheduled to depart up to and including Thursday 5 March, you can rebook on another flight to the same destination for travel on or before Friday 20 March. If you booked directly with Emirates, please call us to reschedule, or if you booked with a travel agent, please call them.
Please do not try to reschedule your flight via Manage My Booking as this may show rescheduling fees."

From the FAQ on https://www.emirates.com/nl/english/...flight-status/

Here’s a firsthand account of EK flights departing DXB as the war rages on:

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy0dp1l57nxt

You wait until your flight is officially cancelled (or the waiver is extended to include your travel date) Currently, you can't do anything (unless you accept that rebooking or refund is on a voluntary basis, i.e. you are refunded nothing or very little).

You have to apply for a refund. But there is no hurry to do so. Tickets with cancelled flights can also be refunded after the intended travel date (because you can't no-show for a cancelled flight)

Sorry, if this has been answered, I couldn't see it anywhere.

Are Emirates offering reroute with other carriers at all or just refund/date change? I have a LGW-BKK in F coming up this weekend so just trying to plan ahead.

TIA