Limited flights started from UAE, governments want to evacuate their citizens from Middle East

Limited flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi began after the US State Department told its citizens in 13 countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Oman, to “depart by commercial means now due to serious security risks.” Due to large-scale closure of airspace and cancellation of flights across the region, there were very few options left to follow the advice.

Since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf states began Saturday, commercial flights have been grounded or heavily restricted, leaving tourists, business travelers, migrant workers and religious pilgrims stranded in hotels, airports and cruise ships.

The airspace over Iran, Iraq and Israel remained closed on Monday. Jordan temporarily closed from Monday afternoon. Other Gulf countries – including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia – had temporary or extended groundings, which could be extended, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said about 13,000 of the roughly 32,000 flights to and from the Middle East had been canceled since Saturday.

Henry Harteveldt, president of travel market research firm Atmosphere Research Group, said airlines running evacuation flights are likely doing so with government support, and the airlines’ home countries may also be assuming some of the financial risk.

“Airlines will not resume operations until they are confident that the risk of their aircraft being attacked is zero – or as close to zero as possible,” Harteveldt said.

Long-haul airlines Etihad Airways and Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as budget airline flydubai said on Monday they would operate limited flights from the country, where air defense systems had been installed to intercept Iranian missiles and drones.

According to Flightradar24, at least 16 Etihad flights departed from Abu Dhabi in a three-hour period on Monday for places like Islamabad, Paris, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Moscow and London. However, the airline’s website said all its regular commercial flights would remain suspended until Wednesday afternoon.

Emirates said customers who had booked early would get priority seats on limited flights starting Monday evening. FlyDubai said it would operate four outbound flights and five inbound flights. Dubai Airports, the authority that runs the city’s two airports, showed more flights on Tuesday but asked passengers to go to the airport only if their airline has notified them with confirmation as operations are still limited.

The disruptions have been significant as Gulf airports serve as vital global transit hubs connecting Europe, Africa and Asia. Dubai International Airport alone handled a record 95.2 million passengers last year, making it the world’s busiest airport by international travel.

Leela Rao, a 29-year-old law student at Georgetown University in Washington, boarded an Etihad flight on Monday. He learned about the airstrike while waiting for a connection flight in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and spent hours at the airport watching news updates, listening to explosions and receiving shelter-in-place alerts, before arranging to stay at a hotel on Etihad in Dubai.

“I feel very, very, very grateful,” Rao said by text message after arriving in Delhi in time for a friend’s wedding. “When we landed everyone clapped.”

The Association of Tennis Professionals said former US Open tennis champion Daniil Medvedev was among some of the players and staff it was helping evacuate from Dubai.

Faizan Khalid, a resident of Scotland, his wife and their 6-month-old daughter were stranded in Lahore, Pakistan on Saturday as their flight home, including one with a connection in Dubai, was cancelled. He had booked a new flight for Wednesday which also included a stopover in Dubai. Khalid said he was getting worried because he and his wife were running out of baby formula supplies.