Flights heading to the Middle East have been diverted or cancelled, causing travel chaos for Australians trying to head to the region for a holiday or stopovers to Europe.

Qatar Airways has suspended all its flights, including those headed to European tourist destinations from Australia. 

Five flights headed to Doha from Australia have been impacted.

Two Virgin flights operated by Qatar and three Qatar Airways flights from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth have been diverted.

The flights are landing in other countries, including India and Singapore.

The disruptions are the biggest yet for air traffic in the region.

Qatar Airways runs a massive global operation out of its airport in Doha, connecting more than 170 destinations around the world.

Turkish Airlines suspended services to Gulf destinations, including Dubai, which is home to one of the world’s busiest airports.

Other airlines, including Singapore Airlines and British Airways, have also cancelled flights.

Qatar Airways confirmed that its flights had been temporarily suspended due to the closure of its airspace.

Three flights from Australia have already been impacted.

“The airline is working closely with government stakeholders and the relevant authorities to support impacted passengers, and will resume operations when the airspace reopens,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

“Once usual operations resume, we anticipate significant delays to our flight schedule.”

The airline also said it had rescheduled flights for the next few weeks, with some departure times moved to earlier in the day. 

Qatar and Dubai have a massive stake in international travel, becoming two of the biggest hubs for connecting flights to hundreds of destinations.

Dubai is home to Emirates, the world’s largest international carrier.

Hamad International Airport in Doha, in the capital of Qatar, is among the 10 largest airports in the world, operating more than 500 flights a day from its namesake carrier.

Together, they handle much of the traffic within the Middle East and are transfer points for long-haul travel between Asia, Europe and North America.

It means certain knock-on effects for the commercial aviation industry.

Air traffic controllers have managed to carve out a safe entry into Dubai in the United Arab Emirates after flights were temporarily suspended to and from the airport.

There is no indication how long the impacts will last. 

9News understands a pilot told passengers that the situation in the region was “very volatile.”