Music composer Santhosh Narayanan took to his social media on Sunday to reveal that he had left Qatar right before the airport shutdown. As the US-Iran conflict led to the clearing of airspace and reports of missile launches, the composer stated that he was probably on one of the last flights to leave the Middle East. He also prayed for the safety of those stranded there.
Santhosh Narayanan on one of the last flights out of Qatar
Santhosh wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he was flying from Qatar to the US and was on one of the last flights out of the region. He wrote, “My Qatar flight was probably the very last to leave the Middle East before the complete shutdown of airports. Just connected via starlink as I am flying into the U.S Praying for the safety of all my brothers and sisters in the region.”
Numerous fans commented under his post, praying for his safe journey. “Safe journey sir. Prayers,” wrote an X user, while another commented, “Have a safe journey and please update after landing it feels scary for me.” One person wrote, “But still many peoples struck there pray for them,” while another said, “Oh my god . You could have missed the flight. Be safe and we pray for you.”
For the unversed, Santhosh is a music composer who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema, as well as in a few Telugu and Malayalam films. He made his debut with the 2012 Pa. Ranjith film Attakathi. In 2025, he composed the background score for Salman Khan’s Sikandar, Suriya’s Retro, and Vijay Sethupathi’s Thalaivan Thalaivii. This year, he composed music for Karthi’s Vaa Vaathiyaar and is now working on Sivakarthikeyan’s Seyon.
The US-Iran conflict
According to AFP, Qatar’s civil aviation authority said that it had temporarily closed the Gulf airspace due to the conflict, and Qatar Airways suspended all flights from Doha. “Flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan have been cancelled until March 2,” said a spokesman. Flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Oman were only suspended for the day. Flights across the Middle East were cancelled as several countries closed their airspace after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies in the hours after smoke began rising over Tehran and Iran began retaliatory attacks in the region. Iranian missiles hit capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region, killing at least one, as witnesses reported seeing warplanes and projectiles streaking through the skies. Carriers including Air France, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian, Air Algerie and Lufthansa announced widespread cancellations.