War in the Gulf: Who Really Pays When Skies Go Silent?
On Saturday morning, 28th February 2026, Iranian missiles hit the Gulf. Within minutes, Dubai International Airport — one of the busiest airports on Earth, handling 92 million passengers a year (that's 9.2 crore people, more than twice Bangalore's entire airport handles at 4.38 crore) — went completely dark. One takeoff or landing happens every 72 seconds at Dubai. All of it stopped.
Within hours, Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi went offline together. Over 12,000 flights were cancelled in just three days — that's 40% of all planned departures. More than one million passengers (10 lakh people) were left stranded in airports with nowhere to go.
Here's why this hit so hard. The airspace over Iraq and Iran is the main highway in the sky connecting Europe to South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and others). Three Gulf airports — Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi — move 90,000 transit passengers every single day. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad together earn over US$ 68 billion a year. When war started, dozens of airlines pulled out overnight. At least 145 planes already flying mid-air turned around and came back.
Now here's the part most people miss — and as Al-Jazeera reported, this is where the real damage begins. When skies close, it's not just passengers who suffer. Air cargo — goods transported by aircraft — carries 35% of global trade by value. That's over US$ 8 trillion worth of goods every year, even though it's less than 1% by weight. What moves through the air? Vaccines with strict expiry dates. Semiconductors (the tiny chips that run your phone, your car, your TV). Fresh produce that spoils within days. Aircraft parts. Life-saving medicines. Things the world simply cannot wait for.
When this airspace closed, factories slowed, medicine deliveries got delayed, and supply chains across continents got disrupted. Airlines forced to reroute around Iran face up to 90 extra minutes per flight — at US$ 6,000 per hour in operating costs, that's serious money. Add to this that Brent crude (international oil price) jumped 4.5% after the airstrikes. Airline stocks fell across Asia and Australia. Airlines pass every rupee of that cost to passengers. Ticket prices go up and stay up for months.
But the sharpest pain fell on a group nobody talks about enough.
In Dhaka, Kathmandu, and Bali, departure halls filled with migrant workers — construction workers, drivers, domestic helpers — all heading back to their Gulf jobs. No flights meant missed contracts, docked wages (money deducted from salary for missed days or late reporting), and days without income. In the UAE, more than 60% of migrants earn under US$ 1,360 a month. Every day without work is a crisis.
The numbers tell the full story. Gulf-based Indian workers send home roughly US$ 49 billion every year in remittances (money sent home). Pakistani workers send over US$ 17 billion. Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf, US$ 11 billion.
When the Gulf shuts down, the pain doesn't stay at the airport gate. It travels thousands of kilometres — all the way to a family sitting at home, waiting for a wire transfer that never comes.
(Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst. He is the Managing Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany.)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or position of the publication, its editors, or its management. The publication is not responsible for the accuracy of any information, statements, or opinions presented in this piece.
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Nepal mountaineers worried amid fake rescue insurance scam
Kathmandu (PTI): Nepal's mountaineering community has expressed serious concern over a USD 20 million insurance scam, even as police on Friday dismissed as "misleading" media reports alleging that some foreign tourists were deliberately given poisonous food to facilitate fraudulent rescue operations.
As the spring climbing season for Mount Everest opened this week, Nepal Police's Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) said that ongoing investigations have not found any evidence to support allegations of food poisoning being used to facilitate fake rescue operations.
"We would like to state the fact that the investigation so far has not revealed any instance of toxic substances being adulterated in food," said the CIB, which conducted months-long investigation into the fake mountain rescue operations involving helicopter operators, trekking agencies and hospitals.
"Misleading and untrue news has been published in national and international media, as well as on social media platforms, based on unverified content," the Himalayan Times newspaper reported, citing a statement issued by the CIB.
The CIB has charged 32 people over the fake insurance scam. These people were freed after taking bail, said CIB spokesperson Shiva Kumar Shrestha. The CIB had filed a case at the Kathmandu District Court, which slapped fines on the 32 individuals.
However, the magnanimity of the fraud hangs over the country as the spring climbing season starts.
"We are conducting investigation regarding the fake rescue operation allegedly being conducted by some travel operators in the Everest region and if found guilty, action will be taken," said Director General of Nepal's Tourism Department Ramkrishna Lamichhane.
"Also, we are trying our best to make sure such fake rescue operations do not happen in the days to come," Lamichhane said.
The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) came down heavily on the alleged practice, saying the mountaineering community as a whole does not encourage such activity.
In a press statement issued on Friday, the association said such allegations are "unimaginable" for expedition operators and stakeholders involved in Nepal's mountaineering sector. It stressed that Nepal has long maintained a strong global reputation as a safe and reliable destination for climbers.
The association called on the government to take strict action if any unethical or inhumane practices are proven, while cautioning that unverified reports could harm the country's image at the start of the peak spring climbing season.
“We discourage such fake rescues in the mountains and urge the government to take strong action against those found guilty,” said NMA president Phur Gelje Sherpa.
“No doubt, there may be a few bad persons who are doing these illegal things, but the mountaineering community as a whole doesn't encourage such activity,” he said while demanding that the government adopt a proper policy to prevent such illegal activity.
Dendi Sherpa, a three-time Everest summitter, said, “Because of the bad conduct of a few people, real climbers like us have to suffer.”
“This will very much have a negative impact on our climbing business. The government should be strict in implementing rules and regulations to control such illegal acts,” he told PTI.
Mount Everest, the world's highest peak at 8,848.86 metres, and scores of other Himalayan peaks continue to be a big draw for mountaineers and adventure lovers from the world over, year after year, since its first ascent in 1953.
Mountaineering, especially for Mt Everest, royalty fees and a large mountain community dependent on mountaineering and related tourism in the region, is a good revenue stream for the Himalayan nation.
Till 2025, more than 8,000 Nepalese and foreign climbers have successfully summited Mt Everest.
In January, Nepal police arrested six officials of tour operators and mountain rescue agencies for their involvement in the fake rescue scam that defrauded international insurance companies of nearly USD 20 million.
In some cases, trekkers with minor altitude-related discomfort were allegedly pressured into helicopter evacuations. In others, multiple patients were transported in a single flight but billed separately to different insurance companies at full cost.
According to the CIB investigators, the accused staged medical emergencies to justify costly helicopter evacuations, which were then falsely claimed from international travel insurance providers.
Fake rescues not only generate illegal profits but also damage Nepal's international reputation and could jeopardise insurance facilities in the country, the CIB had asserted then.
The CIB in January said that their investigation showed that Mountain Rescue Service Pvt Ltd conducted 1,248 rescues, of which 171 were allegedly fake, resulting in insurance claims exceeding USD 10.3 million.
Nepal Charter Service Pvt Ltd carried out 471 rescues, including 75 fake cases, claiming USD 8.2 million, while Everest Experience and Assistance Pvt Ltd conducted 601 rescues, with 71 fraudulent cases involving claims of USD 1.15 million.
In total, 317 fake rescues were detected out of 2,320 operations, leading to fraudulent insurance claims of nearly USD 20 million, the bureau said.
