Travelers trapped by an escalating war in the Middle East began leaving the United Arab Emirates aboard a small number of evacuation flights on Monday, as governments around the world worked to get their citizens out of the region.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai-based airlines Etihad Airways and Emirates and low-cost airline FlyDubai said they would operate limited flights, in the wake of the chaos and damage caused by Iranian missiles and drones.
Since Saturday, at least 11,000 flights into, out of and within the Middle East have been cancelled, affecting more than 1 million passengers, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The travel chaos looks set to continue, with US President Donald Trump saying on Monday that the conflict was expected to last four to five weeks but could last longer.
Late on Monday, the US State Department asked Americans to immediately leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, amid the spiraling conflict sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on Saturday.
Mora Namdar, the State Department’s undersecretary for consular affairs, said U.S. citizens should depart using available commercial transportation “due to security risks.” The United States has not organized its own evacuation flights.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government was sending rapid deployment teams to the region to support British citizens there and wanted to “ensure they can return home as quickly and safely as possible.”
He told MPs: “We are asking all British citizens in the region to register their presence so we can provide the best possible support and monitor Home Office travel advice, which is updated regularly.
Etihad Airways Flight EY67, carrying stranded British citizens, took off from Abu Dhabi on Monday afternoon and landed at Heathrow on Monday evening, according to flight tracking company Flightradar24.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said 102,000 British citizens had registered their presence in the region and that a total of about 300,000 British citizens were in the Gulf countries targeted by Iran.
The Dubai government on Monday urged passengers to go to airports only if they were contacted directly, warning that operations remained limited.
At least 16 Etihad flights left Abu Dhabi over a three-hour period on Monday, according to Flightradar24, bound for destinations including Islamabad, Paris, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Moscow and London. However, the airline’s website said all of its regularly scheduled commercial flights remained suspended as of Wednesday afternoon.
Emirates said customers with earlier bookings would be given priority for seats on board the limited flights it planned to operate from Monday night. FlyDubai said it would operate four flights leaving the city and another five planes arriving on Monday, adding that schedules could change quickly as the situation evolves.
Select departures brought some relief, but did not signal a return to normal.
Airspace closures remained in place for Iran, Iraq and Israel, with Jordan instituting one starting Monday that would last overnight. Full or partial closures in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria were set to expire on Monday but could be extended, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.
Even when restrictions are lifted, commercial flights may not resume immediately. Airlines that operate evacuation flights do so with government backing, and the airlines’ home countries may be assuming some of the financial risk, said Henry Harteveldt, president of travel market research firm Atmosphere Research Group.
“If countries reopen their airspace, that will certainly be helpful,” Harteveldt said. “But airlines will not resume operations until they are fully confident that there is zero risk, or as close to zero as possible, of their planes being attacked.”
The Philippines on Monday upgraded its travel warning for the United Arab Emirates, placing it – along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – at a level that automatically triggers a deployment ban on newly hired Filipino workers, the country’s foreign affairs department said.
Indonesia said more than 58,000 of its citizens were stranded in Saudi Arabia, where they were visiting Islam’s holy sites in Mecca and Medina during Ramadan.
“It has become an urgent humanitarian and logistical issue,” said Ichsan Marsha, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, which was coordinating with Saudi authorities, airlines and Indonesian travel operators to arrange alternative routes or reschedule flights.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said some 30,000 German tourists were stranded on cruise ships, hotels or closed airports in the Middle East. The government said it plans to send planes to Oman and Saudi Arabia to evacuate sick travelers, children and pregnant women, while working with airlines to help others.
The Czech Republic said it was sending several planes to Egypt, Jordan and Oman to bring back its citizens from Israel and neighboring countries.
Leela Rao, a 29-year-old law student at Georgetown University in Washington, boarded one of Etihad’s flights on Monday. He said he learned about the airstrikes while waiting to make a connection in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and spent hours at the airport following news updates, hearing explosions and receiving shelter-in-place alerts before the airline arranged a hotel stay in Dubai.
“I feel very grateful,” Rao said by text message after arriving in Delhi in time for a friend’s wedding. “Everyone applauded when we landed.”
With Associated Press, Press Association and Agence France-Presse
