Anyone else in Dubai on holiday? AIBU to be panicking with all the flights cancelled?

[tiantian1005]

Not sure when we can go home..anyone has managed to for example drive to nearby countries and fly from there?

Not in my concrete floored bungalow. Doesn't warm up indoors here until around May!

Ah that explains this plane

I'd just caution that amongst other things a lot of the tracks in the area shown on flightradar and the other Apps recently have been iffy as heck, probably down to GPS denial and some deliberate obsfucation/jumbling of info.being sent down by the onboard transponders....

One flightradar return yesterday had a transponder equipped airport ground vehicle doing 160 MPH plus through down Abu Dhabi.

I'm sorry - it was BBC but no longer showing on iPlayer. Might be on YouTube though? It was very eye-opening as is the podcast which I've binged today.

@IngridBurger can you please remind me where the podcast is

I hope they can see with their own eyes at some points the destruction of nuclear arms

Imagine if we had this opportunity with North Korea and Russia.

It's Season 5 of "In the Dark" called "The Runaway Princesses". Should be searchable on any podcast platform. I've been listening on Spotify. Hope you can find it ok, it's really good. An aside from this thread but season 2 of In the Dark is absolutely amazing.

It will not be all over by tomorrow. Look how its escalated in 24 hrs. The best we can hope for is that we neednt become any more entrenched in the conflict. Watch this space I guess.

It is on Spotify. The runaway princesses.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=open.spotify.com/episode/7DP90LiBQNwCsUHZaoV48n&ved=2ahUKEwiKl52xmoKTAxXpd0EAHRzSFPwQFnoECB0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw06o3_IRGZbE2ygpoRhkR9s

Page wouldn't open for me.

This

Sorry, hopefully this one will

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DP90LiBQNwCsUHZaoV48n?si=dbBbC6VlTvuvAKQuNGyy9w

Pp mentioned the Panorama docu on Princess Latifa, which also looks interesting. Unluckily it's not available on iplayer right now..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bshk6s

Note two things about this.

Countries apparently not yet affected by events (Egypt) and to leave by commercial means.

This isn't suggesting that the US government intends to do much stuck other than leave when flights become available.

This strength of warning doesn't just apply to those on holiday either; it's anyone settled and working in any of the affected countries. They think there's going to be ongoing issues and Americans are going to be vulnerable.

The Dubai dream sounds over from this.

So yeah if you are an American in Dubai, sounds like the cavalry aren't coming to help you. You are on your own.

What do you mean by this

I hope you're right.

Spies on the ground will have knowledge.

Be thankful if you are stuck in the area and hold a UK passport, our Govt’s priority is the safe evacuation of our citizens. The US not so much 🤷

‘Depart now’ - HOW?! How exactly are the Americans expecting people to depart exactly?

some are due to be coming back from Dohar

Dubai was largely evacuated during the first Gulf War, the Dubai dream certainly didn’t stop then and I doubt, looking at all my friends instas, it’s going to stop now - most of them are carrying on as normal except schooling from home and some are working from home.

They all feel very safe and many of them have been there through the second Gulf War, some both Gulf Wars and now this. I really doubt most of the expats will not return even if they do leave.

Worst case is they will extend Easter holidays so people can chose to leave if they want. It’s very much life as normal and not what the media are portraying at all.

This.

Trump has left his citizens firmly in the shit and told them it's their problem to get back.

Don't forget if you are in Dubai and were on a flight from Europe you have considerably more rights too, so will be prioritised back to Europe too.

He's really shafted a lot of Americans here by the looks of it.

It's also closed it's Embassy in Kuwait until further notice. And the one in Saudi was hit last night.

If I was an American on holiday there I'd be particularly concerned.

It must be incredibly dystopian to be surrounded by so much wealth and luxury in the warm weather yet be surrounded by war with a neighbouring regime indiscriminately firing drones and missiles that need to be intercepted literally in the skies in view from your balcony.

My biggest concern though, if I was there now would be the risk of terrorism, because let’s not forget who they’re dealing with here. Western nationals in the lavish hotels and bars would be a prime target especially if a radical group decided to take action into their own hands. The missiles can be handled effectively enough that it gives the illusion of normality, dirty terrorism cannot.

I also wouldn’t want to risk boarding a commercial flight out of the area until there’s been a decent sustained ceasefire.