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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TN Assembly elections: Eight-month pregnant homemaker wins Thiru Vi Ka Nagar seat for TVK
Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.
Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.
Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.
According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.
She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.
A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.
Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.
Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
