Thousands of passengers remain stranded in Middle East as airlines gradually resume limited services following days of flight cancellations caused by intensifying regional conflict, CNN reported on Wednesday.

Major aviation hubs including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha have suspended most commercial operations since Sunday, disrupting millions of travellers passing through these critical global transit points. Thousands of international flights have been cancelled daily according to FlightAware data, CNN journalists Karla Cripps, Marnie Hunter and Jennifer Hansler reported.

Emirates suspended all flights but resumed limited repatriation and freight services on Monday night. All scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until at least 11.59 pm UAE time on March 7, according to airline’s website cited by CNN.

Etihad’s scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain suspended until 6 am UAE time on March 6. Qatar Airways flights remain grounded due to Qatari airspace closure. However, Qatar Airways announced Thursday it will operate limited relief flights from Muscat in Oman to London Heathrow, Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam, plus Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to Frankfurt.

US State Department confirmed first facilitated charter flight departed Wednesday, with additional flights planned throughout region. Almost 3,000 Americans have registered with department for assistance. Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said over 120 people are fielding calls at 24-hour call center.

“We will proactively reach out when charter flights, charter buses, other options are available. Advice for American people in the region: be ready to go quickly once you receive that call”, Pigott told CNN on Wednesday.

State Department urged US citizens to leave Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates due to serious safety risks. Earlier statement called for departure from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE and Yemen using available commercial travel.

Canada advised travellers to leave United Arab Emirates as soon as possible. Canadian government is arranging evacuations with nationals in Israel being bused to Egyptian border and limited numbers departing Beirut by plane, CNN reported.

Israeli flag carrier El Al landed first rescue flight from Athens at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday morning. Airline is working to place all affected passengers on rescue flights at no additional cost.

German airline Lufthansa suspended regular flights to Dubai until March 6 and flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, Dammam and Tehran until March 8.

Thousands of cruise passengers remain stranded on vessels in UAE and Qatar ports. Germany-based TUI Cruises plans to repatriate German customers within several days, Reuters reported. Special Emirates flight departed Dubai to Munich with 218 people from Mein Schiff 4 vessel.