Airline grounds all Dubai flights as British expats fight to leave region

Flights in and out of Dubai have been grounded as Iran launches its strongest barrage of missiles across the Middle East yet.

Emirates, one of the leading international airlines in the region, confirmed they have suspended all their services in the city until further notice.

They urged passengers not to travel to the airport, adding they do not want to compromise the safety of their crew.

In a post on X, they said: ‘All flights to and from Dubai have been suspended until further notice.

‘Please do not go to the airport. Emirates will share updates when available. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience.

‘The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and will not be compromised.

‘All city check‑in points across Dubai are temporarily closed until further notice.’

The city has been hit in a barrage of drone attacks with the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel one of the landmarks hit by Iran.

Two of Dubai’s most iconic hotels – the Burj Al Arab and Palm Jumeirah – have all been damaged in the strikes as the UAE intercept Iranian missiles from above.

The attacks have also left carnage in apartment blocks, triggering an exodus from expats but routes out are limited as the airspace above the area has been mainly closed.

One of the first flights out of Dubai into London Heathrow arrived yesterday.

Travellers landed just before 8am having managed to buy a ticket to escape the bombing with alerts ringing out even as they got on their plane.

Chris and Nicky Weare from Bristol had to pay £12,000 for tickets with hundreds of Brits battling to get out of Dubai which has been hit by a series of missiles on its port, apartments and other infrastructure.

Nicky, 47, told Metro: ‘The situation is not good it’s very frightening. We saw drones being intercepted and a bomb hitting the harbour. But the government denies its serious they are telling everyone everything ok but it’s far from ok it’s like the Titanic the band is playing on as the ship sinks.’

Chris added: ‘An example of it being like the Titanic was at a horse racing meeting.

‘There were literally missiles flying above our heads and the commentator at the racecourse, who was English, just carried on with the announcements as if nothing was happening, it’s bizarre.’

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