‘We have been sleeping in the reception’: Britons stranded in Dubai face chaos as they try to get home
Brits trying to return from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are facing chaos at a time when air travel is widely disrupted across the Middle East.
Iran has hit the UAE and many of its neighbors with attacks in recent days in response to attacks by US and Israeli forces.
The conflict led to the suspension of flights and airspace over the Emirates was closed until some flights resumed on Monday. The outage left thousands of Brits stranded.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that 102,000 British citizens had registered their presence in the region. In total, he said, around 300,000 British citizens were in the Gulf countries targeted by Iran.
Britons are advised to follow instructions from local authorities and follow Foreign Office travel advice; officials expect this to change quickly.
Nick Westwood, 62, a retired train driver from Barnham, West Sussex, and his wife Joanne, 61, a retired credit analyst, sleep in the lobby of their high-rise tenement as they wait to return home.
The couple, who were in Dubai for a bucket list holiday, had planned to leave on Sunday but had to extend their seven-day stay by paying an extra AED400 (£81.00) per night.
Mr Westwood, whose 25th-floor accommodation is only available until Thursday, said: “It’s very, very scary, very stressful and just like being stuck in limbo.
“We were sleeping in the reception room of this building. We returned to the room at 4am this morning and slept for another four hours.
“And as soon as we stood up, there were more drone strikes right above the building.”
The couple were told it would cost them £6,000 to rebook their flight back to the UK.
“It’s really just a waiting game. Now it’s getting dark in here again and that’s when [missiles] It usually starts.
Emirates announced on Monday that it would restart some flights, with priority given to customers who booked in advance, while Etihad Airways announced that scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi would be suspended until 14:00 UAE time on Wednesday, March 4.
But a lot of confusion remains for those trying to return home.
The man had been in Dubai for a week-long holiday with his wife since February 25 and was due to fly home on March 1.
“It was a perfect holiday. We loved everything about this city. And now it’s completely chaotic,” said Adam, who asked to be identified only by his first name. Independent.
He said their biggest concern right now is not missiles or drones, but their pet dog back home.
“We have a Yorkie who gets a little anxious when we’re not around. We’re more worried about him than what’s going on here, to be honest.”
Emirates has provided them with accommodation at a Holiday Inn near the airport, but the uncertainty of when they will be able to fly home is adding to their stress.
“There is no clear information about when flights will resume or when they will be able to rebook us,” he said. “Every time we call the helpline, no one picks up. It’s frustrating. We don’t want to stay here indefinitely, especially if it looks like the situation is only going to get worse.”
Ian, a business director from Doncaster, said his flight was canceled on Sunday as he was traveling via Dubai on his way back from Sydney.
“It was pure bad luck. I actually needed to land in Dubai much earlier and catch my flight to Sydney before the crisis started,” he said. Independent.
“But a delay in my domestic connection in Mumbai delayed everything.”
He had taken a short business trip from Dubai to India and was scheduled to return to Dubai to catch his flight to Manchester.
Ian said he was now waiting to find his way home. “If the flight hadn’t been delayed, I would have left Dubai long ago before all this started,” he said.
“The airport is being hit. A five-star hotel on Palm Jumeirah was hit. I will be more comfortable if I reach my home as soon as possible.”
“My wife is worried. She’s watching all this in real time on TV. All she wants is for me to come home.”
Matthew McGinn and Layla Hamood, from Liverpool, traveled to the UAE for their honeymoon but told the BBC on Monday morning they were confined to their hotel and its grounds.
Ms Hamood said: “‘It was terrible to be honest. The bombing didn’t stop, we could hear the missiles and warplanes. It was scary. We were completely in our room yesterday.’
As for what to do next, he added: “There is not much information given. Staff have been told to carry on as normal to avoid causing chaos and scaring people.”
“I don’t think there is much information because no one knows what to do.”
“We are in limbo. We don’t know what happened, how we can get home, what we need to do. We tried to register on the government website like everyone else. We just want to go home.”
Her husband said: “As soon as the airspace opens we are taking the next flight home. [sic] “There is a limit to this for us.”
“We want to return to the UK as soon as possible,” he added.
But the disruption is not limited to those in the Gulf countries, as Dubai is the crossroads of many airline routes.
The suspension of flights in Dubai has meant the cancellation of a number of routes requiring stopovers in the UAE.
British citizen Margaret Khumalo, 54, was visiting family in Zimbabwe but her flight back to London from Harare via Dubai on Saturday was cancelled.
He said he was stuck in Africa on Monday and had no Emirates flights on his route.
Khumalo, a nurse, said she was “in limbo” and had lost her contract job, which was scheduled to start today.
he said Independent: “Dubai is a huge hub for all these flights from Africa to Europe. It’s literally a huge gateway for everyone, and a lot of us are stuck here.”
“The British government is trying to see how they can get people back home and I don’t think anyone has mentioned us.” [in Africa].”
Ms Khumalo said she felt “lucky” to be able to stay with her family for now, but now had no idea when she would be able to return to her home in Bexley, south London.
“I don’t know who to contact for anything, whether there will be repatriation, how far it is from Dubai,” Ms Khumalo added.
“Because there are other people who need to go to Dubai but are still stuck in a lot of places.”
The Independent has contacted Emirates airline for comment.
