Air Canada extends suspension of Tel Aviv, Dubai flights.

The military conflict in Iran and surrounding nations has prompted Air Canada to extend its suspension of flights to Israel and the UAE for several more weeks.

The airline says its flights from Toronto to Tel Aviv will be cancelled until May 2, and flights to Dubai will be cancelled until at least March 28.

“We are monitoring the situation and will adjust our schedule accordingly,” the company said. “We continue adding capacity to Delhi to provide travellers with options to Canada.”

There was tangible relief among Canadians who landed Friday morning in Toronto on a flight from Dubai, with returning travellers describing a long and anxious process to find their way home.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday that a chartered flight is set to take 180 Canadians fleeing the war zone from Dubai to Istanbul on Saturday.

The federal government is warning Canadians to avoid travelling to the Middle East due to the ongoing military situation, specifically Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as non-essential travel to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

America and Israel’s attack on Iran disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond over the weekend as countries around the region closed their airspace, and three of the key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia halted operations.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There was also no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of its airspace.

With files from The Associated Press and CityNews’ John Marchesan.