Airspace closure sparks chaos at Doha as thousands stranded

Operations at two of the world's busiest airports in Doha and Dubai slowed to a crawl on Tuesday as thousands of travellers queued for hours, facing long delays and flight cancellations after the temporary closure of airspace a day earlier.

- LUKE TYSON AMR ALFIKY MARK BENDEICH

Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait shut their airspace late on Monday after Iran's strike on a US military base in Qatar's capital Doha, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute hundreds of flights and creating a backlog of stranded passengers.

Airports across Dubai in the United Arab Emirates briefly halted operations.

US President Donald Trump said a ceasefire between Israel and Iran was in place and asked both sides not to violate it, raising hopes of an end to the 12-day war, but hostilities continued, with deadly attacks reported in both countries.

"I haven't slept for 19 hours. And I've been in this line over nine hours," said Lily Rogers, 21, who was in a 200-metre (656 feet) queue at Doha's Hamad International airport.

The psychology student, en route to an holiday in Southeast Asia, said those in line were only given water during the wait.

Virgin Australia estimated that over 25,000 passengers were stranded at Doha airport.