Air France has now officially canceled Dubai flights until November 7 and Riyadh until December 12, 2026, but they have “shadow” canceled these flights much further out.
Air France has removed availability on Dubai flights until December 1st, and Riyadh until January 11, 2027. This means Air France is not selling any seats on these flights, which usually means they will eventually be canceled.
You can access Air France’s page for Travel Disruption here.
Air France’s Announcement:
Situation in the Near and Middle East.
Updated : 29 October 2026, 1:30pm Paris local time
Air France is monitoring the developments in the Near and Middle East in real time.
Due to the evolving security situation:
Flights to and from Riyadh are suspended up to and including December 12, 2026.
Flights to and from Dubai remain suspended up to and including November 7, 2026.
Affected customers are being contacted individually.
The flexible booking options outlined below allow customers to cancel or postpone their trip free of charge, even if their flight has not been cancelled.
Air France reiterates that the safety and security of its customers and crews are its absolute priority.
The issue is that Air France has removed all the availability from these flights far further out than what they say in the release above:
Paris – Dubai
Paris – Riyadh
Why would Air France do this?
As long as the flights aren’t completely canceled, they can pretend they are operating and refuse to rebook passengers.
Eventually, however, they need to rebook passengers, but it seems they only push out the cancellation on the Dubai route by a week, or at most two, at a time.
They are not selling seats for these “shadow” canceled flights, so it is likely that their loads are very low, and another reason not to operate them.
European Union Air Passenger Rights EC 261/2004:
Passengers booked on these now-canceled services are eligible for rerouting on airlines that are currently operating, or, if you were only going to transit in Dubai, to your final destination, bypassing the region altogether.
Note that the passenger can choose to be rerouted at the earliest convenience or opt for a full refund even on non-refundable tickets.
Note that if Air France or KLM informs you about their service cancellation less than 7 days before departure, the passenger is eligible for the EC 261/2004 cash compensation unless the passenger is offered rerouting that departs no more than 1 hour before the scheduled time and arrives no less than 2 hours later.
If you were informed between 7 and 14 days before, you are not eligible for the 600 euro compensation if the replacement flight leaves no more than 2 hours before or arrives no more than 4 hours later.
Even past the 14 days, the airline is required to pay the compensation if they don’t rebook the passenger at the earliest convenience, i.e., claiming that they can only rebook you on select partner airlines.
There is no carve-out for this on EC 261/2004 rules.
Conclusion
KLM, part of the Air France-KLM Group, did the right thing and already canceled the services to Dubai through the end of March (read more here).
Not sure why Air France plays these claims and pretends that these flights will soon restart when, in fact, they have been canceled far further out than what they are communicating.
Wouldn’t it be better for Air France to rebook affected passengers now rather than a week out?
If you are on these Air France services to Dubai or Riyadh, these flights have already been canceled, but rebooking won’t happen until they officially cancel them.