UK government to charter flight out of Dubai

The UK government plans to operate a charter flight out of Dubai early next week aimed at British nationals seeking to leave the area, conditions permitting. This service will be in addition to existing commercial flights available from the United Arab Emirates and will come with a charge for passengers. Those eligible to register for the flight include British citizens, their spouses or partners, and children under 18 years of age.

So far, two government-arranged flights have successfully brought British nationals home from Muscat, Oman. The first flight arrived at Stansted Airport on Friday, followed by a second touchdown at Gatwick Airport on Saturday. Another flight is scheduled to depart from Muscat on Sunday. The Foreign Office intends to directly contact registered individuals to issue tickets, prioritizing vulnerable passengers such as those with urgent medical conditions. Passengers are required to hold valid travel documents, and non-British dependents must have official visas or permits extending beyond six months.

The ongoing conflict in the region has recently intensified, with missile and drone attacks reported by both the UAE and Qatar on Saturday. Dubai International Airport, a major global aviation hub, has seen significant disruption to air travel since Iran initiated retaliatory strikes on Gulf countries in response to military actions by the US and Israel. Emirates airline had to temporarily halt all flights from Dubai last week, a serious disruption for many tourists including UK nationals. On Saturday, BBC-verified footage captured a drone strike inside the perimeter of Dubai International Airport, showing an explosion near a terminal building. The UAE government has yet to release a statement on the incident.

Several British residents trapped in the region have shared their experiences during these tense days. Victoria Cameron from Larkhall, Scotland, described the moment Iranian missiles first hit Dubai on 28 February. “Then the staff said ‘run, run, leave your suitcases’. They rushed us all to the side of the hotel,” she recalled. “Our phones were going off, saying ‘emergency, emergency’. We were crying, we were shaking.” Cameron safely returned to Edinburgh on an Emirates flight this week. Another individual, Stuart Carson, was staying at Fairmont The Palm Hotel when it was struck, shaking his entire room. “Once dawn broke, we started to feel a bit more comfortable with the situation and just gathered our thoughts and had breakfast in the hotel,” he said. After experiencing multiple cancelled flights, Carson managed to fly back home to Northern Ireland on Tuesday

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