The Federal Government is under increasing pressure from travel industry leaders to drop Smartraveller’s Do Not Travel advice on Middle East hubs from Level 4 to Level 3, in step with most of the rest of the world.
While ATIA and CATO, both part of Smartravellers travel industry consultative committee, continue to work closely with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the overall benefit of all travellers, the 150,000 Australians travelling through the Middle East would indicate the Level 4 ranking is “hard to justify”, one source said.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) officially overtook Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (SDF) to become the world’s busiest airport by seat capacity earlier this year. Dubai handled 5.5 million seats in January 2026, surpassing Atlanta’s 4.9 million seats.
That changed dramatically on 28 February, after the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran, with the country responding by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf. The last major strikes impacting Middle East aviation hubs occurred on March 16, after a drone strike on a fuel storage tank near Dubai International Airport (DXB) halted operations.
But ATIA CEO Dean Long told Travel Weekly that 150,00 Australians had travelled via the Middle East in the past six weeks and Australia is now an “outlier” with its ranking.
“Australia has one of the most conservative travel rankings in the world,” Long said.
One strategy could be to reduce the status of transiting through a Middle Eastern hub to Level 3, while maintaining those countries impacted by the ongoing war as a Level 4 for holiday, or long-term stays.
Long said while the proposal to separate the destination from its aviation hub was “unprecedented”, Level 4 does not fit the current situation.
“We understand and agree with the need to keep Australians safe but, from what we can see, if does not fit the lived experience for over 150,000 Australians,” he said.
Industry consensus
Other industry leaders, including CATO chair Dennis Bunnik, say the highest Do Not Travel alert could potentially impact the faith Australians have in the Smartraveller rankings.
“Our industry have been putting lots of pressure on Government to reduce warning levels, especially for transit as many Australians now actively ignoring it,” he told Travel Weekly.
“Any reduction will help consumer confidence and ensures travellers and get travel insurance coverage,” he said. “From our perspective we welcome reductions in advice levels.”
It comes on the eve of a European summer and also at a peak period of selling Australian inbound.
“We recognise difficulties for Government in making these decisions and have appreciated their engagement with the industry,” Bunnik concluded.
CLIA calls for consistent approach
While cruising in the region has ceased completely, transit for European river and Mediterranean departure points have also been impacted, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) executive director in Australasia Joel Katz said.
“Cruise lines are not currently operating in the Middle East. However, guests have been impacted by flight disruptions when travelling to other regions to cruise,” Katz said. The industry supports a consistent approach to government travel advisories and encourages travellers to book via a travel agent who can provide assistance in the event of travel disruption.”
