A drone attack on Dubai International Airport this week has caused a ripple effect on the global aviation sector with airlines avoiding the Middle East as the conflict continues.

On Monday Dubai International Airport suspended flights after a drone hit a fuel tank. It is the third time that the airport has been affected by stirks on th4e airport or nearby facilities.

Specialty risk intelligence company Russell said at the time of Monday’s incident 119 aircraft with an estimated market value of $12 billion were at risk.

The attack has been followed by the announcement by British Airways have cancelled all flights to Dubai until at least June, making it the first major airline to do so.

Earlier this month it announced that all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv were cancelled for the remainer of March while services to and from Abu Dhabi were scrapped “until later this year”.

In a new update issued on Monday, BA confirmed that flights to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai, and Tel Aviv were now cancelled up to and including 31 May, and flights to Doha were cancelled until 30 April.

In a statement British airways said: “Due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability, and to provide more clarity to our customers, we have extended the temporary reduction in our flying schedule in the region.

“We are keeping the situation under constant review and are directly in touch with affected customers to offer them a range of options.

“Since the situation in the Middle East began, we have helped thousands of customers return home and operated eight relief flights from Muscat in Oman. We are also operating additional flights to and from Singapore (x4) and Bangkok (x3) and continue to review options to bring back more customers who have been disrupted.”

Dubai International Airport, is the world’s busiest airport in passenger traffic but has been blighted by cancellations and diversions as the Iran war spreads across the region.

The airport records 440,236 flights annually and is a significant hub for connecting flights across the region and beyond.

Chris Don, Head of Communications and External Affairs at Russell, commented on British Airways’ decision:

“This decision by British Airways confirms that the aviation sector is on the front line of the conflict in the Middle East, with no immediate end in sight. It is clear in their view that the war will continue for a significant period, with a significant risk to aircraft in the region as our analysis shows following Monday’s attack.

“The longer that this conflict continues, the bigger the cost will be to everyone connected to the airline sector, their supply chain partners and indeed everyone within that discrete ecosystem, which includes insurance companies and investors. There is an increasingly urgent need for live data, which is something that (re)insurance underwriters are calling for to help them understand their exposures and how they can manage the risks”

The airline crisis comes as IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez has urged shipping companies to consider then safety of crews in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

“ I must  express my grave concern and deep sadness regarding the recent attacks on merchant ships in the region of the Strait of Hormuz, as a result of which at least seven seafarers have reportedly lost their lives, and several others have been severely injured,” he told a special meeting of the IMO. “At present, around 20,000 seafarers remain stranded inside the Persian Gulf, on board vessels, facing high risk and considerable mental strain. My thoughts are with these seafarers. Despite these challenges, they continue to perform their duties with professionalism and resilience.

“I continue to monitor the situation closely, and I reiterate my call for all shipping companies to exercise the utmost caution when operating in the affected region, and to the extent possible, to avoid passing through it.

“I will never get tired of repeating myself when I say that any attack on innocent seafarers or civilian shipping is totally unacceptable. They must not become victims of broader geopolitical tensions.

“Therefore, I urge all parties, all of you, to work towards de-escalation of the conflict and to allow these crew members to leave the Gulf safely on board  their ships.”

Dominguez  added: “As I have emphasised publicly, I urge all stakeholders to remain vigilant against disinformation and to rely when making operational decisions only on verified, authoritative sources when making operational decisions. To support this effort, the Organization has made available a dedicated webpage providing regularly updated and verified information on the evolving situation.

“I stand in solidarity with the many crews who continue to keep global shipping moving under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

“This situation is unacceptable and unsustainable. Shipping has demonstrated time and time again how resilient it is, but geopolitics are testing the sector to the limit.

“And every time shipping is used as collateral damage in these conflicts, the whole world is negatively affected, from the global economy to food security, underlying the importance of freedom of navigation, seafarers and the sector as a whole.”

Specialty risk intelligence company Russell said at the time of Monday’s incident 119 aircraft with an estimated market value of $12 billion were at risk. The attack has been followed by the announcement that British Airways have cancelled all flights to Dubai until at least June, making it the first major airline to do so.