Low-cost carrier Air Arabia, headquartered at Sharjah International Airport, lengthened its operational pause on 1 March 2026, telling passengers that all UAE departures and arrivals would remain grounded until at least 15:00 on Monday, 2 March. Routes to Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq are suspended through 3 March. While Emirates and Etihad dominate corporate travel budgets, Air Arabia is critical for intra-region commuter flows—especially oil-and-gas engineers rotating between Sharjah, Basra and Amman, and for blue-collar crews transiting to ship-repair yards in Fujairah. The airline said affected passengers will be contacted directly and may rebook or seek refunds, but warned that its call centres are experiencing "extraordinary wait times." Travellers holding short-stay visit visas that expire during the shutdown have been advised to retain cancellation emails as proof should they need to request a fine waiver or emergency extension from UAE immigration authorities. Companies with group bookings are urged to consolidate manifests and liaise via the airline’s trade-portal rather than individual PNR contacts to speed processing once schedules resume. Air Arabia also reminded passengers that Sharjah International is not permitting landside access to anyone without a confirmed flight, a measure designed to prevent terminal overcrowding similar to that seen during the 2020 pandemic repatriation peak. Mobility planners should therefore avoid instructing staff to "wait it out" at the airport and instead secure hotel inventory in Ajman or northern Dubai, where occupancy rates remain below 60 percent.
Source: Gulf News
