When the War Came for Your Assignees: Considering The Direct Impact on International Assignments in the Middle East (Part 1)

By now you know that on February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on Iran. Within hours, airspace over six countries was closed. The U.S. State Department issued “DEPART NOW” advisories for 16 countries across the region. And corporate mobility teams with assignees on the ground woke up to a situation that no standard relocation policy was designed to handle.

This is the first in a three-part series on how the U.S.-Iran conflict is reshaping talent mobility. This post focuses on the direct impact: what is happening to international assignments in and around the Middle East right now.

The First Days

The first days of the conflict produced the travel industry’s largest disruption since COVID-19. Roughly 40,000 flights were cancelled. Qatar Airways grounded its entire operation out of Doha. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha are three hubs that handle a disproportionate share of global long-haul connections. All effectively went dark. Private jets became emergency escape routes. Overland convoys to Riyadh became the improvised alternative for employees who couldn’t get out.

Day 9: Improved, Not Stable

According to our on the ground partners, by Day 9, the picture had improved meaningfully, if incompletely. Emirates is now operating flights to approximately 84% of its normal network and has been repatriating up to 30,000 stranded passengers per day. UAE government digital portals that went offline are back up. Businesses in Dubai have begun voluntarily returning to the office.

But “improved” is not the same as “stable.” Reuters, reporting on March 9, notes that airports are gradually resuming operations at only a fraction of normal capacity, a more cautious characterization than carrier-level numbers alone suggest. Flights remain on reduced schedules. The situation, according to partners on the ground in Dubai, “remains somewhat volatile, with periods of calm followed by alerts and occasional interceptions and explosions heard across the region.” Assignees and families are managing uncertainty, not resolution.

Wider Aviation Impact: Europe, Asia, and Cargo

The ripple effects on aviation extend well beyond the conflict zone itself. Flight prices between Asia and Europe have soared, with carriers including Wizz Air and Lufthansa rerouting around closed airspace. Ryanair has seen a jump in demand for short-haul flights as Europeans opt to stay closer to home ahead of Easter rather than risk connections through disrupted Middle Eastern hubs. For mobility programs with European-based assignees or candidates in active relocation, flight costs and schedule reliability are degraded even for routes that don’t touch the region. Air cargo analytics firm Rotate estimates the airspace closures have reduced international cargo capacity by nearly 20% — a figure with direct implications for household goods and time-sensitive shipments anywhere in the global network.

For corporate mobility teams, the harder problem probably isn’t logistics — it’s the legal and compliance exposure created when employees evacuate, shelter in place, or cross borders under emergency conditions.

One immigration law firm described the current environment as “a mass compliance crisis, not an individual case management issue.” The risks are real and varied:

• Payroll continuity — Moving an evacuating employee onto local payroll in a neighboring country to maintain pay continuity can inadvertently trigger unauthorized employment violations, mandatory social security contributions, and future visa ineligibility. Home-country payroll must be maintained wherever possible.
• Work authorization in safe-harbor countries — Employees working temporarily from Cyprus, Turkey, or Armenia while they wait out the conflict may themselves require new work authorizations in those jurisdictions. The work happens; the compliance obligation follows.
• Document loss — Passports and visa documents lost or left behind during emergency evacuations create cascading immigration problems that can take months to resolve.
• Land border crossings — For employees unable to depart by air, overland options to Riyadh or Muscat remain available — but carry genuine life-safety risks. These moves should only be attempted in coordination with professional security evacuation providers, not independently.

The situation is not uniform across the region. Through our supply-chain network of on-the-ground partners, Plus Relocation has been tracking daily operational status across the region. As of March 5–9:

• Egypt — Fully operational. Green across the board for immigration, destination services, and air travel.
• Jordan — Largely functional. Airspace open, destination services active, though assignment planning should be evaluated case by case.
• UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain — All Amber. Partial service disruptions, housing tours and orientation services suspended, government offices operating at reduced capacity.
• Iraq and Israel — Red. Airspace closed, in-person immigration services restricted, all inbound assignment planning requiring case-specific assessment.

Riyadh and Muscat have emerged as the primary overflow hubs for land-accessible departures, though temporary accommodation in both cities is strained by the volume of displaced travelers.

By now, your RMC has reached out to any active assignments in, or those transiting through, the region. Auditing your international population against the State Department’s 16-country DEPART NOW advisory is the first priority. Immigration counsel should be engaged on payroll continuity, work authorization in safe-harbor countries, and visa status for any employees who have evacuated or are sheltering in place.

Let us know if you would like our most recent “Service Alert - Middle East Conflict”.