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Flights between Dulles International Airport and the broader Middle East have fallen sharply since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
About two-thirds of those flights have been canceled, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority President and CEO Jack Potter told the authority’s board on March 18. Much of the remaining service is suspended or significantly reduced, and flights still operating are likely carrying fewer passengers.
The disruption affects a notable share of Dulles traffic. The airport handled a record 10.5 million international passengers in 2025, with Middle East routes accounting for roughly 10% of international travel.
United Airlines serves the region from Dulles, while direct connections are also typically offered by Egyptair, Emirates, Etihad, Royal Jordanian and Saudia. Other airlines provide connecting service.
Emirates, which normally flies a daily Airbus A380 between Dulles and Dubai, canceled the route through March 15. It has since resumed service using smaller Boeing 777 aircraft three times per week.
On March 16, a drone attack at Dubai International Airport sparked a fire and forced the airport to close for several hours. No injuries were reported, and flight operations later resumed.
Dulles has also handled nearly two dozen charter repatriation flights since the conflict began three weeks earlier. Those flights brought American residents—and, in many cases, their animals—back to the United States, Potter said.
Winter weather also weighed on air travel
The collapse in Middle East service is the second major setback Dulles has faced since the beginning of the year.
January enplanements at local airports declined 2.4% from the previous year. Airport authority leaders attributed the decrease partly to a snow and ice storm that grounded most flights near the end of the month.
The comparison was also affected by President Donald Trump’s January 2025 inauguration, which may have boosted Dulles traffic that year.
February’s numbers are expected to be stronger, according to Chryssa Westerlund, the authority’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer. Some passengers whose late-January trips were disrupted completed their travel in early February.
“We captured some of that traffic in early February,” Westerlund said.
Officials also reported strong activity at Dulles and Reagan National airports during the Presidents’ Day weekend, Feb. 14-16.
“People still want to fly,” said Thomas Beatty, the authority’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
The airports are now preparing for the spring-break rush among Washington-area school systems. Fairfax County Public Schools’ break runs from March 30 through April 3.
“We are excited and ready to welcome the surge,” Westerlund said.
New Taiwan route set for June
Even as Middle East service contracts, Dulles is preparing to add another connection to Asia.
EVA Air plans to launch four weekly flights between Dulles and Taipei, Taiwan, beginning June 26. Washington will become the airline’s 10th North American destination.
“The addition of the Washington, D.C., route strengthens our North American network, while providing passengers with more flexible, efficient and comfortable travel options,” EVA Air President Clay Sun said when the service was announced in late February.
Flights will leave Taipei at 7:30 p.m. local time on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, reaching Dulles at 10:30 p.m. the same day. Return flights will depart Dulles at 1:50 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays and arrive in Taiwan at 5:45 a.m. the following day.
EVA Air will use three-class Boeing 787 aircraft for the route.
Westerlund said the new service is projected to generate $61 million in annual economic activity for the Washington region, which has a large Taiwanese expatriate community.
For passengers traveling from Asia, EVA Air is also working with travel agencies on a nine-day East Coast tour covering the District, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Amish countryside, Atlantic City and New York City.