Story by Feliz Solomon, Milàn Czerny, Georgi Kantchev • 17m • 6 min read

A commercial plane over Beirut on Sunday.

A commercial plane over Beirut on Sunday.

© Emilio Morenatti/AP

TEL AVIV—The cabin doors had just sealed shut on a recent Tel Aviv flight bound for Athens when a chorus of alerts went off on passengers’ phones—an early warning that missiles were on the way.

Crew and air-traffic controllers had only seconds to decide. They opened the door and rushed everyone off the plane.

It is a scene that is repeating itself in airports across the region as war in the Middle East wreaks havoc on global travel. Air-raid sirens have sent panicked staff and passengers scrambling for shelter. Planes have been grounded for hours waiting for threats to subside. Some have taken off or landed within minutes of incoming fire.

With the conflict well into its second month, travelers are finding it harder to defer trips any longer and are getting back on planes despite the Iranian missiles and drones taking aim at some of the world’s busiest airports.

Sara Kahn Shapiro

Sara Kahn Shapiro

“I’m not really comfortable, but I’m doing it, because I know the probability is that I’ll be fine,” said Sara Kahn Shapiro, a 66-year-old retired teacher traveling from Israel to the U.S. for family events planned months ago. She said she was taking Dramamine to get through the flight.

The pace of strikes has slowed in recent weeks, but Iran is still regularly taking dozens of daily shots at places such as the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Authorities in both countries say they intercept almost all of them, but the attacks are still inflicting damage. Even threats that are shot down scatter dangerous shrapnel over large areas, and airports are often at risk.

There is also the risk of misfires by missile defense crews.

At least nine civilian airports in seven countries have been damaged by attacks since the war began Feb. 28, according to Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation-security firm. Six others were targeted, but it isn’t known whether they were damaged, the firm said.

No commercial flights have been downed during this war, but at least five parked aircraft have been struck. There have also been some scares. A passenger traveling through Dubai International Airport in the early hours of March 19 described chaotic scenes as a siren went off just before his flight. Staff seemed overwhelmed as they evacuated the entire terminal, he said.

A few days earlier while landing in Dubai, a passenger in the window seat captured a video, verified by The Wall Street Journal, as his plane passed by a fuel tank that caught fire when it was struck by an Iranian drone. The U.A.E. has tried to slow the spread of similar images by threatening years of jail time and $50,000 fines for sharing pictures or video of strikes or damage that haven’t been approved by the government.

An Emirates aircraft prepared for landing as a smoke plume rose from a fire near Dubai International Airport last month.

An Emirates aircraft prepared for landing as a smoke plume rose from a fire near Dubai International Airport last month.

© AFP/Getty Images

The harrowing incidents keep coming. Passengers had just boarded an early Monday morning Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to London when a wave of phone missile alerts swept the cabin.

Flight attendants ordered an evacuation with a terse directive: Grab your passports and boarding passes, leave all luggage, get out. As evacuees hurried onto the jetbridge, crew members ordered them to put away their cameras. Rifle-carrying soldiers shouted at passengers not to take photos or videos, intercepting at least one couple and demanding to inspect their phones.

The passengers returned to the plane after a brief wait and were preparing to taxi when a second alert hit. This time the doors had already been closed and the jet bridge retracted, so the protocol shifted. There was no evacuation order and no announcement. Passengers sat trapped in the darkened cabin in silence until a second all-clear appeared on their screens.

The crew offered water and orange juice. The pilot apologized for the disruption and a delay caused by a backlog of departing flights. Neither the flight crew nor the captain acknowledged the missile threats.

Sharon Kedmi, chief executive of the Israel Airports Authority, said takeoff is one of the most challenging moments. Passengers are stuck sitting in a plane with tens of thousands of gallons of fuel in its wings hoping the worst doesn’t happen, he said.

“When this happens, the passengers are in the plane and have nothing to say about it,” Kedmi said. “You cannot leave the plane once you’re on the tarmac. They can pray to the one they believe in.”

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport has entered unprecedented territory by staying open through the war. The airport authority works to keep people safe, Kedmi said, but passengers need to understand that some situations are out of its hands.

Noémie Halioua, a French freelance journalist, packed light for her flight from Tel Aviv to Paris on March 20, wearing loosefitting pants and sneakers just in case she had to run for cover. She thanked herself later.

Between her arriving at the departures hall and taking off, air-raid sirens sounded five times, she said. The first two times, she and dozens of other passengers were lining up by the gate when they were told by staff to hurry to a nearby stairwell. After that they were allowed to board, only to be suddenly evacuated and shuffled into what she described as a maintenance room in the terminal.

They waited there for almost half an hour as consecutive sirens went off. She said she saw a little boy about 10 years old, traveling with his sister, crying as he spoke to his parents on a video call. “I’m scared, I’m scared,” the boy kept saying, as his sister tried to calm him, Halioua said.

Once everyone was finally aboard, the plane took off in a hurry to not miss the window of clear skies. “They did it Israeli style,” Halioua said. “The pilot floored it. He made a power takeoff, and we got out of there.”

Israel has tightened rules several times to adjust to evolving threats. On March 23, a few days after Halioua’s frightening ordeal, the transport ministry limited flights to one per hour and capped each outgoing flight at 50 passengers. Some measures have since been eased.

An Israeli aviation-security manager told the Journal the flight cap serves two main functions. It prevents large concentrations of civilians at the airport, which makes it easier to manage in an emergency and lowers the risk of collateral damage. It also reduces financial risk for airlines that might otherwise have to deal with mass cancellations. Aircraft with fewer people are easier to evacuate.

Modern technology can reduce the risks, the security manager said. Authorities coordinate with airlines to carve out the safest corridors, and planes calibrate their altitude to minimize their time in threat zones. Sometimes that means longer flight routes or startlingly rapid takeoffs and landings.

Others say flying in the Middle East isn’t safe. Osprey, the aviation risk advisory, maintains an extreme-risk warning for operators for almost the entire region, while Europe’s aviation regulator advises airlines not to cross into any Middle East airspace with the exception of some higher altitude routes in western Saudi Arabia and in Oman.

Jamie Thornback, who represented the families of 20 passengers killed in 2020 when Iranian forces mistakenly shot down a commercial flight taking off from Tehran, said travelers aren’t heeding the risks.

“Eventually somebody is going to get hit,” Thornback said.

Travelers are plowing ahead anyway. Guy Berman, a 28-year-old Israeli student, waited out the blare of air-raid sirens before boarding a recent flight to Cyprus. He said the passengers on his flight were mostly unfazed by the disruption.

“To be honest, everyone was pretty chill,” Berman said. “I think if you’re someone who’s sensitive about it or afraid, you just wouldn’t fly right now.”

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