British travelers stranded in the Gulf due to escalating conflict have begun departing on limited flights to the UK, despite the airport not being fully operational.
Airspace closures across the Middle East occurred following strikes involving the US, Israel, and Iran over the weekend, leading to the shutdown of several busy aviation hubs in the region.
Although Dubai airport is not completely open, a small number of flights resumed operations yesterday evening. An Emirates flight from Dubai International Airport (DXB) is expected to land in Manchester this afternoon.
Other Emirates flights to destinations including London Heathrow, Gatwick, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Paris, and Bengaluru took off on Tuesday morning, according to FlightRadar24.
In a passenger advisory issued on Monday, DXB stated, “Limited airport operations have resumed today (March 2) with a small number of flights operating from DXB and DWC. Passengers must not travel to the airport unless they have received a confirmed departure time directly from their airline, as schedules remain subject to change. If you have received a confirmed departure flight from your airline, please also check which terminal your flight is departing from.”
UAE airspace has partially reopened under restricted corridors since its closure on Saturday. Emirates, the UAE flag carrier, also announced that it would operate “a limited number of flights” from Monday evening.
The airline added, “We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority, and those who have been rebooked to travel on these limited flights will be contacted directly by Emirates.”
Zayed International Airport advised passengers not to travel to the airport unless they have been “explicitly advised by their airline to do so.” Access to the airport in Abu Dhabi will be restricted to confirmed travelers only.
According to Cirium, the aviation analytics firm, 78.13% of flights from the UK to the UAE remain canceled on Tuesday. Etihad also announced that all scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain suspended until 2 pm local time on Thursday, March 5.
