On September 30, a flydubai Dubai–Tel Aviv flight diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after a violent incident in the cockpit; flydubai has suspended all flights to and from Israel while the investigation continues. Israeli carriers El Al and Arkia do not yet fly the Tel Aviv–Dubai route; El Al plans to resume in November 2026.
The ceasefire for the U.S.-Israel war with Iran signed June 17, 2026 has fully broken down and the conflict remains active, continuing to alternate between periods of direct fighting and pauses. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) currently advises airlines to avoid the airspace of the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman through November 16, 2026, with separate bulletins for Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, also through November 16 and Jordan, through October 16. Authorities recommend monitoring your home country's foreign ministry advisories in real time, keeping travel documents and insurance confirmations easily accessible, and building substantial buffer time into any itinerary touching Gulf or Levant airspace.
The Strait of Hormuz is operating at a fraction of normal capacity; shipping traffic through the strait remains well below normal levels. Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in place. This is keeping regional fuel and energy costs elevated and is worth factoring into any cruise itinerary that transits the Gulf, or any booking that connects through affected ports.
The AED, SAR, BHD, QAR, and OMR are all pegged to the U.S. dollar – the KWD is pegged to a currency basket – which means that any broader USD strength or weakness against the euro, pound, or yen passes through directly to most Gulf currencies.
The Turkish lira has weakened roughly 17% against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months, against annual inflation running near 32%.
Lebanon's pound has remained in crisis since 2019, with a large gap between official and market exchange rates. Israel's shekel and Jordan's dinar are comparatively more stable.
Iran's rial fell to a record low of about 2.5 million per U.S. dollar in late September 2026.
Travelers from Türkiye made a record 11.39 million trips abroad in 2024, the fourth consecutive year of growth following a pandemic-era low of 2.73 million in 2021, which was a 72% drop from 2019 levels. As of the most recent published breakdown by destination from 2023, Iraq was the single leading destination, a status it had held since 2022, reflecting deep cross-border business, family, and religious travel ties rather than leisure tourism in the conventional sense.
Citizens traveling abroad by destination country, TÜİK's (Turkish Statistical Institute) 2023, the most recent published country breakdown.
Lebanon, Jordan, and Iran each face distinct but compounding challenges for international travel right now. Lebanon and Jordan represent much smaller markets relative to population, shaped by both longstanding economic conditions and the current security situation. Iran's situation is more acute: extended airspace and airport closures throughout 2026 have at times cut off commercial flights entirely, forcing residents toward overland routes to leave the country. Across all three, diaspora and religious-pilgrimage travel continues to a meaningful degree, even though it doesn't always show up in leisure-travel statistics — current conditions are likely suppressing that as well.
International travel hit a record 9.4 million trips in 2025, exceeding pre-pandemic and pre-war (2019) levels by roughly 3%, with over 90% of trips made by air. The top five destinations by flight volume in 2025 were Greece, the U.S., the UAE, Cyprus, and Italy — a notable shift from 2023, when Türkiye ranked among the top five before regional tensions reshaped travel patterns. January–February 2026 saw international travel up 112% YoY, a record start to the year, before renewed fighting with Iran understandably curtailed international travel again in March–May 2026. Travel rebounded over the summer as Israelis made 1.4 million trips abroad in August 2026, above pre-war August 2023 levels, bringing January–August to about 6.07 million, roughly level with 2025. Additionally, Israeli citizens have had access to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) since October 2023.
YoY growth in international travel from Israel by destination in 2025
Departures from Tel Aviv
Authorities recommend confirming that routine vaccinations — including tetanus/diphtheria, MMR, hepatitis A/B, and the meningococcal vaccine required for Hajj and Umrah travel — are current before any international trip, and checking destination-specific recommendations several weeks ahead of departure.
Confirm your travel insurance covers your specific destination and routing, including medical evacuation, before departure — particularly for itineraries that connect through or near the wider conflict-affected area, where many standard policies carve out exclusions.