UK Opens Dubai Exit Flights as Middle East Travel Crisis Deepens

The UK government opened a booking portal for British nationals in Dubai who want to leave on a government-chartered flight. The Foreign Office said the option is open to British nationals, their spouse or partner, and children under 18, with vulnerable travelers given priority.

The move came after days of major air travel disruption across the Middle East caused by the conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the US.

Earlier in the week, the UK started charter flights from Muscat, Oman, to help citizens leave the region.

Emirates has resumed flights, but disruption is not over

Emirates said it carried about 30,000 passengers out of Dubai on Thursday and operated 35 flights to the UK after resuming services. That shows the airport is moving passengers again and key UK links are returning.

Security concerns have added urgency

The pressure to leave is not only about flight disruption. Dubai authorities said a driver was killed after debris from an aerial interception hit a vehicle in Al Barsha. That incident raised the security stakes and likely made some travelers more eager to leave sooner rather than wait for normal schedules to stabilize.

More than 130,000 British nationals had registered their presence in the region with the Foreign Office. Not all of them need assisted departures, but the figure helps explain why governments are still building dedicated support systems.

Passenger care becomes the next test

The wider disruption is also changing how stranded passengers are being managed across the region. The crisis has moved beyond flight cancellations alone and into a broader passenger-care challenge during an uneven recovery.

Air India said it was operating special flights to help bring affected travelers home, while authorities in the UAE said they would cover hotel stays and meals for passengers stuck as flights returned gradually.

Qatar Airways also said it would run a limited number of relief flights from Muscat and Riyadh for stranded travelers. At the same time, the US State Department came under criticism over the speed and clarity of its response as the conflict widened, even as Washington ramped up charter flights and said it had already helped about 10,000 Americans seeking to leave.

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