Poles are stuck at Middle East airports. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The land route is safe
2026-02-28 19:58, updated 2026-02-28 20:37
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2026-02-28 19:58
update
2026-02-28 20:37
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, announced that a number of Poles were stuck at airports in the Middle East region. He stressed that the airlines are responsible for them, and Polish consuls are trying to reach them. He assured that Polish citizens are currently not in danger.
When asked on TVN24 on Saturday evening whether he could confirm the information that Poles in the Middle East were not in danger, the Minister of Foreign Affairs replied that “for now, thank God, yes.” – But as we know, the situation is changing all the time, so I hope that this time everyone appreciates that for many weeks we have been appealing not to go to Middle Eastern countries and I would like to ask you to take these warnings seriously – Sikorski replied.
– A week ago, the Prime Minister himself warned about the developing situation around Iran. There, thank God, we have more embassy employees than Poles staying in Iran, but a number of our compatriots are stuck at airports in this region – noted the minister. He added that the airlines are responsible for them and Polish consuls are trying to reach them.
As he repeated, “the situation is changing all the time.”
For today, Egypt is safe and there are still flights – but this may change – from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It seems that the safest way to leave is now by land, Sikorski said.
The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Kac said the strike was pre-emptive. US President Donald Trump confirmed that the US military had launched a “major combat operation”, announced that Iran would not acquire nuclear weapons and called on the Iranian nation to take power in the country. In retaliation, Iran announced attacks on all US bases in the Middle East.
When asked to what extent Europeans and Poland were consulted by the US and Israel before this attack, Sikorski replied that “consulted is too big a word, but we had some prior knowledge, the details of which I cannot talk about.”
LOT: Flights to Tel Aviv suspended until March 15, and to Dubai and Riyadh until March 2
LOT Polish Airlines decided to suspend connections to Tel Aviv until March 15 inclusive, the carrier's spokesman Krzysztof Moczulski announced on Saturday evening. He added that it was also decided to cancel cruises to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) until March 2.
A spokesperson for the national air carrier reported on the
LOT does not have connections to Qatar in its network.
In an earlier conversation with PAP, Moczulski, when asked whether other flights were delayed or canceled due to disruptions in the region, said that the rest of the flight network was being operated as planned.
Due to Saturday's airstrikes on Iran by the US and Israel, many Middle Eastern countries closed their airspace. On Saturday morning, a PLL LOT plane that was flying to Dubai was returned to Warsaw. The national carrier also informed that it had temporarily suspended flights to Israel. The head of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Dariusz Klimczak, indicated that all LOT flights to and from Tel Aviv had been canceled until time. 10.00, March 3.
On Saturday afternoon, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also informed via the X platform that due to the ongoing large-scale military operation in the Middle East, further air closures or significant difficulties in air traffic are likely, also over Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Syria.
Flights in the region were canceled, among others: British airline Virgin Atlantic, Air Arabia, Norwegian Air Shuttle (to and from Dubai), Air France (to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut), Dutch KLM (on the Amsterdam – Tel Aviv route), Wizzair (connections with Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman; until March 7), Lufthansa (connections with Tel Aviv, Beirut, Oman; until March 7), Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines (connections with Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman), Bulgaria Air (connections with Tel Aviv until March 2) and Air India to all Middle Eastern countries.
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