Flights Cancelled Hurting Asia as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia Cancel 534 and Delay 5,351 Flights at Riyadh, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou and More Affecting Akasa, Saudia, ANA, UTair, Kam and Other Airlines

By: Indranil Mukherjee

Image generated with Ai

Air travel across Asia faces severe operational gridlock. Heavy geopolitical friction and severe monsoons hurt regional logistics, forcing carriers to cancel 534 flights. Furthermore, cascading schedules delay 5,351 others. Consequently, active military restrictions and intense weather fronts severely hit airspace safety. Therefore, nations like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia are experiencing massive backlogs. The disruption actively stalls high-density corridors at Riyadh, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, and more international hubs. Because of these sudden airport closures, aircraft cannot displace normally. As a result, the crisis actively traps passengers affecting Akasa, Saudia, ANA, UTair, Kam, and other airlines running tight rotations. Crews are rapidly hitting legal duty limits. Meanwhile, carriers scramble to reroute assets around restricted zones. Travelers now face rolling cancellations as ground teams try to clear the terminal chaos.

Affected Airports, Cities, and Countries

An analysis of the operational data highlights exactly where the gridlock is concentrated. The infrastructure breakdown spans East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Gulf, hitting individual transit points with extreme severity.

High-Impact Hubs and Cities

The single most disrupted facility in the dataset is Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) (HND) in Japan, which holds the highest number of individual disruptions with 456 delays alongside 8 cancellations.

However, mainland China represents the largest concentration of ground disruptions by country. Shanghai’s aviation network has been severely crippled: Shanghai Pudong International (PVG) recorded a massive 449 delays and 12 cancellations, while its sister hub, Shanghai Hongqiao International (SHA), racked up 176 delays and 10 cancellations. Guangzhou Baiyun International (CAN) acted as another major failure point, absorbing 366 delays and 12 cancellations.

Further north and west in China, regional infrastructure is similarly gridlocked. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International (HGH) logged 222 delays against 13 cancellations, closely mirrored by Chengdu Tianfu International (TFU) with 215 delays and 13 cancellations. Shenyang Taoxian International (SHE) suffered a high cancellation rate of 18 departures relative to its 214 delays, while Shenzhen Bao’an International (SZX) registered 22 cancellations alongside 199 delays.

Other impacted Chinese hubs include:

• Kunming Changshui International (KMG): 193 delays, 5 cancellations
• Xi’an Xianyang International (XIY): 174 delays, 4 cancellations
• Beijing Daxing International (PKX): 143 delays, 7 cancellations
• Beijing Capital International (PEK): 137 delays, 33 cancellations
• Nanjing Lukou International (NKG): 113 delays, 3 cancellations
• Wuhan Tianhe (WUH): 105 delays, 14 cancellations
• Qingdao Jiaodong International (TAO): 101 delays, 6 cancellations
• Hefei Xinqiao Airport (HFE): 89 delays, 11 cancellations

In the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong International (HKG), ground operations managed to hold cancellations to just 2, though it still absorbed 129 flight delays.

South and Southeast Asian Inundation

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia’s flagship gateway, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta International (CGK), felt the brunt of the regional slowdown, logging 213 delays and 17 cancellations. Elsewhere in the archipelago, operations staggered at Sultan Hasanuddin International (UPG) with 62 delays and 11 cancellations, Juanda International (SUB) with 26 delays and 2 cancellations, Halim Perdanakusuma International (HLP) with 4 delays and 6 cancellations, and Sam Ratulangi International (MDC), which reported 4 delays and 3 cancellations.

In South Asia, India’s primary international corridors are dealing with heavy gate backlogs. Capital operations at Indira Gandhi International (DEL) in Delhi recorded 138 delays and 12 cancellations, while Chatrapati Shivaji International (BOM) in Mumbai tracked 72 delays and 11 cancellations. Bengaluru International (BLR) suffered 41 delays against 19 cancellations, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (AMD) in Ahmedabad closed out its tracking window with 13 delays and 7 cancellations.

The Middle Eastern Flashpoint

Directly adjacent to the military exchanges, Middle Eastern transit hubs are highly unstable. Dubai International (DXB) in the UAE clocked a significant 193 delays alongside 14 cancellations, while Sharjah International (SHJ) managed to restrict disruptions to 51 delays and 2 cancellations. Qatar’s Hamad International (DOH) recorded 144 delays and 4 cancellations, and Bahrain International (BAH) reported 37 delays paired with 6 cancellations.

Within Saudi Arabia, the epicenter of the immediate Houthi threat, major domestic and international hubs are facing profound logjams. King Khalid International (RUH) in Riyadh saw 88 delays but a severe spike of 42 full cancellations. King Abdulaziz International (JED) in Jeddah logged 78 delays and 35 cancellations. At the frontline of the attack, Abha Regional (AHB) experienced 13 delays alongside 34 outright cancellations as air traffic grounded. Nearby, Gizan Regional (GIZ) checked in with 7 delays and 27 cancellations, while Najran Domestic (EAM) was limited to 3 delays but forced 16 cancellations due to its proximity to the active conflict zone.

Analysis of Affected Carriers

The structural stress from these global reroutings and ground stop orders has hit regional airlines unevenly, forcing crews to absorb massive delays while dealing with localized terminal gridlocks.

China Eastern sits at the absolute center of this crisis, absorbing an astronomical 665 delays and 57 cancellations as it tries to navigate both domestic airspace constraints and international rerouting around the Middle East. China Southern Airlines (349 delays, 17 cancellations) and Air China (248 delays, 37 cancellations) are similarly overextended, while Shenzhen Airlines (213 delays, 2 cancellations) and XiamenAir (184 delays, 5 cancellations) round out the heavily disrupted Chinese operations.

Japanese carriers continue to struggle with massive rolling delays caused by high-density traffic sequencing and external corridor congestion, rather than outright network cancellations. This includes Japan Airlines (JAL) with 183 delays and 2 cancellations, All Nippon (ANA) with 136 delays and 4 cancellations, and ANA Wings with 59 delays and 2 cancellations. Smaller divisions like Japan Air Commuter (24 delays, 1 cancellation), Solaseed (21 delays, 1 cancellation), and Jetstar Japan (16 delays, 1 cancellation) have faced identical tactical delays.

In South Asia, India’s IndiGo stands out with 134 delays and just 1 cancellation. Other Indian carriers like Air India (43 delays, 2 cancellations), SpiceJet (41 delays, 4 cancellations), and Akasa Air—which suffered an acute cancellation wave of 33 flights alongside 12 delays—are also significantly set back.

Across Southeast Asia and Central Asia, carriers are heavily impacted by ripple-effect delays. Batik Air in Indonesia logged 58 delays alongside 29 cancellations, while its domestic counterpart Garuda Indonesia tracked 24 delays and 2 cancellations. Malaysia’s Malindo Air recorded 67 delays and 1 cancellation. Air Astana in Kazakhstan logged 10 delays and 2 cancellations, while Afghanistan’s Kam Air logged 1 delay against 2 cancellations.

In the Gulf, airlines are heavily exposed to the shifting geopolitical theater:

• Qatar Airways (Qatar): 127 delays, 4 cancellations
• Etihad Airways (UAE): 104 delays, 1 cancellation
• Emirates (UAE): 102 delays, 4 cancellations
• Air Arabia (UAE): 82 delays, 5 cancellations
• FlyDubai (UAE): 78 delays, 6 cancellations
• Jazeera Airways (Kuwait): 7 delays, 2 cancellations

Crucially, while Saudi Arabia’s national carrier, Saudia, has kept its delays down to 49, it has been forced to execute 69 full cancellations, the highest in the airline dataset, due to the direct military threats targeting its domestic base infrastructure at Abha, Gizan, and Najran. Regional Saudi operators face the exact same pattern: Flynas checked in with 31 delays and 5 cancellations, while flyadeal logged 30 delays and 1 cancellation.

Action Plan: What Affected Passengers Can Do Now

If your flight is caught in this wave of Asian and Middle Eastern flight disruptions, you must take immediate tactical steps to protect your travel plans and claim proper accommodation.

1. Secure Real-Time Flight Status Verification

Do not rely on third-party travel booking portals or general airport boards, which are lagging behind the active tracking data. Download your operating carrier’s direct mobile application and turn on push notifications. If your route passes near the Gulf or East Asian transit zones, cross-verify your tail numbers using independent radar tracking platforms to see if your incoming aircraft is caught in an upstream holding pattern.

2. Leverage Alternative Corridor Rerouting

For passengers traveling between Europe and Asia, understand that traditional routes crossing West Asian airspace are heavily constrained. Request that your carrier look for options traversing northern transit corridors across Central Asia or deeper southern routes over Africa. If you are flying with heavily impacted operators like China Eastern or Saudia, ask to be interlined onto partner alliances that are routing away from the congested air sectors.

3. Establish Written Documentation for Compensation

Because thousands of delays are linked to active military operations and changing airspace blockades, many airlines will attempt to categorize these events under “extraordinary circumstances” or force majeure to waive standard compensation claims.

4. Know Your Right to a Refund

If your flight is canceled outright by the airline due to these operational challenges, you are legally entitled to a full cash refund to your original form of payment under most international aviation frameworks—regardless of whether the carrier claims the cancellation was out of their control.

Data Verification Notice

The Data is extensively curated by me with figures derived from Flightaware dated 13 July 2026 at 4:15 pm (ET)
Primary Source: Real-time data aggregated via FlightAware.
Verification Protocol: Statistics are cross-checked by our human editorial desk. Timestamped logs and feed snapshots are securely archived internally to maintain historical accuracy.
Note: Real-time tracking figures represent active airspace data and may experience minor variances from local airport terminal gates.