Cathay Pacific’s Dubai and Riyadh passenger flights cancelled through 31 January 2027

So, Cathay Pacific has pushed the cancellation of its Hong Kong–Dubai and Hong Kong–Riyadh passenger flights out again, this time through 31 January 2027. That is a fair bit longer than the previous targets that were floating around for late October and November, and it is another reminder that this Middle East pause is not a short blip.

The routes have been off since late February 2026, when the US–Israel–Iran conflict and the wider regional security and airspace situation kicked off. Cathay’s own notice (updated 28 September 2026) is fairly short: Dubai and Riyadh passenger flights are cancelled up to and including 31 January 2027, affected travellers get flexibility to rebook, reroute or refund, and the airline will keep monitoring the situation. Industry coverage also notes that cargo services to the region remain under review / postponed rather than back on a firm restart date.

For anyone sitting on a ticket, the flexible conditions matter more than the headline date. For tickets issued on or before 28 September 2026, with original travel between 28 September 2026 and 31 March 2027, Cathay is still waiving rebooking, rerouting and refund charges for Dubai, Riyadh and (for Cathay-ticketed marketed flights) Doha. Changes have to be made by 31 March 2027, and the new travel has to be completed by 31 May 2027. Seat availability still applies, and any fare or tax difference between the old and new itinerary is still payable. Already-refunded tickets are out of scope. Cathay’s page says to contact your travel agent for changes.

Worth keeping in mind that 31 January 2027 is the current horizon, not a promised restart day. Cathay’s wording is that they will continue to closely monitor developments — so another extension would not exactly be a shock if things stay messy.

I have flown Cathay a fair bit myself over the years (including some of those A330 business class hops), so if you want a sense of what the product looks like when the network is actually flying, I have a handful of reviews under the Cathay Pacific category on this blog — for example A333 business HKG–Bangkok and an older A350 business Manila–Hong Kong.

Overall, another long gap on two useful Middle East gateways from Hong Kong — annoying if you had plans, but at least the ticket flexibility is still there if you fall inside the windows above.

Sources: Cathay Pacific Middle East passenger services notice, Flexible ticket conditions for Middle East, and industry coverage on the earlier October–November targets and cargo status.