Travel Risk 2026: The Full Do Not Travel List (23 Level 4 Countries) and What It Means for Your Flight Route

Every few months a headline announces that the do not travel list has grown, and readers ask whether that means their flight is unsafe because it crosses one of the countries on it. The two things are related but not the same, and the gap is what this post is about. Below is the complete US State Department Level 4 list as of 5 November 2026 with each advisory's issue date, the Level 3 list, how the list moved during the year, and, for each Level 4 country that also has an airspace closure or conflict-zone bulletin, where we track it.

The source is travel.state.gov, read on 5 November 2026. Advisories are reissued often, so treat the dates as part of the data.

How the four travel advisory levels work

The State Department rates every country on a four-tier scale: Level 1, exercise normal precautions; Level 2, exercise increased caution; Level 3, reconsider travel; Level 4, do not travel. The level describes the risk to a person on the ground: crime, unrest, terrorism, kidnapping, wrongful detention, armed conflict and the government's ability to help its citizens there. Each advisory carries an issue date and can move at any time.

Other governments run their own systems. The UK's FCDO marks regions where it advises against all travel or all but essential travel, and the two scales do not map one-to-one. If you want UK travel advice on Iraq, for instance, the answer is on the FCDO Iraq page, not the US list.

Level 4 Do Not Travel: the full list as of 5 November 2026

Twenty-three countries sit at Level 4. The date in brackets is the issue date of the current advisory on travel.state.gov; an older date is not a weaker warning.

• Afghanistan (20 February 2026)
• Belarus (29 December 2025)
• Burkina Faso (4 May 2026)
• Burma, also listed as Myanmar (8 May 2026)
• Central African Republic (15 January 2026)
• Chad (28 April 2026)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (15 July 2026)
• Haiti (10 July 2026)
• Iran (5 December 2025)
• Iraq (2 March 2026)
• Lebanon (6 May 2026)
• Libya (16 July 2025)
• Mali (8 June 2026)
• Niger (9 July 2026)
• North Korea (29 April 2025)
• Russia (29 December 2025)
• Somalia (21 May 2026)
• South Sudan (17 May 2026)
• Sudan (15 May 2026)
• Syria (11 December 2025)
• Uganda (4 June 2026)
• Ukraine (14 November 2024)
• Yemen (19 December 2025)

How the list changed during 2026

Press coverage in February 2026 widely reported the Level 4 count as 22. By July it stood at 23, still the figure on 5 November. The net change of one hides more movement: Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda were raised to Level 4 during the year, with advisories dated April, July and June, while Venezuela, at Level 4 early in 2026, is now at Level 3; its current Level 3 advisory is dated 27 June 2026. The three additions were all about conditions on the ground: none carries a conflict-zone bulletin, and none changed how aircraft are routed.

Level 3 Reconsider Travel: 26 entries

Twenty-six entries as of 5 November 2026, a few of them sub-national listings; dates are given where we recorded them.

• Azerbaijan (28 April 2026), Bahrain (2 March 2026), Burundi, Colombia (31 March 2026), Ethiopia (1 April 2026), Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras
• Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (27 February 2026), Jerusalem (listed separately), Kuwait (28 June 2026), Mauritania, Nicaragua, Nigeria (12 June 2026), Oman (27 June 2026), Pakistan (16 June 2026), Papua New Guinea
• Qatar (2 March 2026), Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia (13 March 2026), Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates (3 March 2026), Venezuela (27 June 2026)

The Gulf at Level 3: a ground warning and an airspace bulletin at once

The striking feature of the Level 3 list for long-haul flyers is the cluster of Gulf hubs on it: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, with advisories dated between March and June 2026. A Level 3 rating does not close an airport or stop a connection, but the region is one where the ground advisory and the airspace picture have both been active in 2026; the airspace side is in our post on [whether it is safe to fly over the Persian Gulf](/blog/is-it-safe-to-fly-over-the-persian-gulf-easa-gulf-bulletin-czib-2026-07r3-bahrain-kuwait-doha-emirates-muscat-fir), which tracks the EASA Gulf bulletin for the Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, Emirates and Muscat FIRs.

Why a travel advisory is not an airspace warning

A travel advisory answers one question: should a citizen go there and walk around? It says nothing about the airspace above the country. Airspace is closed or restricted by the state that controls it, through NOTAMs, which our guide to [what a NOTAM is](/blog/what-is-a-notam-how-to-read-airspace-closure-notices) explains. Separately, regulators warn their own airlines about conflict zones: EASA publishes Conflict Zone Information Bulletins, the US FAA issues Special Federal Aviation Regulations and NOTAMs, and the UK, France, Germany and Canada publish their own guidance; see our explainer on [EASA conflict-zone bulletins](/blog/easa-conflict-zone-bulletins-middle-east-explained).

So a country can be Level 4 on the ground and routine at 38,000 feet. 'Is this route safe' is answered by the NOTAMs and bulletins for the FIRs on your track, not by the advisory level of the countries under it; the method is in [how to check if your flight avoids conflict zones](/blog/how-to-check-if-your-flight-avoids-conflict-zones), and the maps operators use are in our guide to [safe airspace maps](/blog/safe-airspace-map-world-aviation-risk-maps-explained).

Which Level 4 countries also carry airspace closures or conflict-zone bulletins

A group of the 23 also have overflight warnings or closures. We track each in its own post, where the current open or closed status is kept because it changes faster than a list like this can. What follows is where to look, not a statement of today's status.

• **Afghanistan** (20 February 2026). The Kabul FIR carries a long-running EASA bulletin: [is it safe to fly over Afghanistan](/blog/is-it-safe-to-fly-over-afghanistan-easa-afghanistan-bulletin-czib-2017-08r19-kabul-fir).
• **Iran** (5 December 2025). The status we update most often: the [October 2026 Iran airspace update](/blog/iran-airspace-open-or-closed-october-2026-update) and the running [Iran airspace status page](/blog/iran-airspace-status-open-or-closed).
• **Iraq** (2 March 2026). The Baghdad FIR has a 2026 EASA bulletin: [is it safe to fly over Iraq](/blog/is-it-safe-to-fly-over-iraq-easa-iraq-airspace-bulletin-czib-2026-05-r2-baghdad-fir). British readers should pair it with the FCDO Iraq page.
• **Lebanon** (6 May 2026). The Beirut FIR has a 2026 bulletin: [is it safe to fly over Lebanon](/blog/is-it-safe-to-fly-over-lebanon-easa-lebanon-bulletin-czib-2026-06-r2-beirut-fir).
• **Russia** (29 December 2025). Closed to most Western carriers since 2022, which is why Europe to Asia flights look the way they do: [flying over Russia: the airspace ban and alternative routes](/blog/flying-over-russia-airspace-ban-alternative-routes).
• **Ukraine and Belarus** (14 November 2024 and 29 December 2025). Both closed to most Western carriers since 2022; the detours are covered in [northern arc routes between Europe and Asia](/blog/northern-arc-flight-routes-europe-asia-caucasus-central-asia).
• **Sudan** (15 May 2026). The Khartoum FIR carries an EASA bulletin and its airspace status changed in 2026: [is it safe to fly over Sudan](/blog/is-it-safe-to-fly-over-sudan-easa-sudan-bulletin-czib-2023-01r8-khartoum-fir-airspace-reopened).
• **Syria** (11 December 2025). The Damascus FIR bulletin dates back to 2017 and is still being revised: our [Syria airspace bulletin explainer](/blog/easa-syria-airspace-bulletin-czib-2017-03r20-damascus-fir-explained).
• **Yemen** (19 December 2025). The Sanaa FIR bulletin and its effect on Red Sea routings: [is it safe to fly over Yemen](/blog/is-it-safe-to-fly-over-yemen-easa-yemen-bulletin-czib-2017-07r20-sanaa-fir-red-sea-routes).
• **Libya, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.** Libya's Tripoli FIR has an active EASA bulletin, and the Sahel states shape the north-south crossings of Africa; see our [Johannesburg to Rome routing post](/blog/johannesburg-to-rome-flight-route-jnb-fco-which-way-it-flies-libya-chad-sudan-sahara).

Level 4 countries where overflight is a separate question

The rest of the list is a different kind of warning. Haiti, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Somalia, Burma and North Korea are Level 4 mainly for crime, kidnapping, unrest, armed groups on the ground, wrongful detention or the absence of consular help. Those are reasons not to land. Except where a bulletin or closure exists, they are not in themselves reasons for an aircraft to avoid the airspace; whether a FIR is routinely overflown depends on air traffic service coverage, airline policy and the regulators' own assessments, not on the State Department's level. If a Level 4 country on your line is not in the overflight section above, the route question is answered by the normal check of NOTAMs and bulletins for that FIR.

How to use this list before you book

The list works best as a filter, run in this order; it takes about ten minutes.

1. Check the destination and any connection point on travel.state.gov, and on your own government's equivalent if you are not American. Note the level and the date. For a connection through a Level 3 hub, read what the advisory says about transit rather than assuming the ground rating applies to the terminal.
2. Draw the rough line between origin and destination and list the countries under it; for a long-haul flight this is usually eight to fifteen.
3. For each one at Level 4, check whether it appears in our overflight section, and if so open that post for the current airspace status. For the rest, check the EASA bulletin list and the relevant NOTAMs; most will not appear.
4. The day before you fly, look at your flight number on a tracker and compare recent tracks with what you expect. A track that bends around a FIR is the system working, not a problem.

Frequently asked questions

How many countries are on the do not travel list in 2026?

Twenty-three, as of 5 November 2026, per travel.state.gov. The figure was widely reported as 22 in February 2026 and reached 23 by July after Chad, the DRC and Uganda were added and Venezuela moved to Level 3.

Does a Level 4 advisory mean flights over that country are unsafe?

No, not by itself. The advisory is about the ground; overflight is governed by airspace closures and conflict-zone bulletins. Several Level 4 countries carry both and are listed above with links; the others are mostly about crime and unrest and say nothing about the airspace.