For years, airlines in the U.S. and Europe have gawked at the rise of Middle East carriers funneling ever more passengers through their gleaming hubs in Dubai and Doha at competitive prices with the latest jets.
Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways offered a viable alternative in the Persian Gulf region, leveraging a perfect position between three continents ¡ª Europe, Africa and Asia.
That dynamic changed almost overnight when the Iran war broke out, shuttering airspaces, grounding planes and leaving regional airlines in disarray. While the loss of capacity from the Middle Eastern carriers has reduced long-haul flying overall, Western airlines are moving in to fill the gap.
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