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?

The poster replied and said it was merely to highlight how quickly things have escalated in two days…not a brag!

Ive family who flew from Dubai to a neighbouring country in the middle east on Thursday. One is working there and one due to fly home this weekend. That has obviously been shelved.

Plenty of good advice on here op, stay safe!

I think people are actually rising to your excitement around a simple grab bag.

For the record, I am 1000s of miles away but my family were caught up in a major weather event where grab bags were pretty useful. One of the difficult things to navigate at the time were all the over confident eye rolling people saying FFS don’t panic and the hysterical preppers behaving like it was the end of the world. A grab bag is just a simple, sensible thing.

You have absolutely no idea that that is true. We are in uncharted territory.

Being at home is completely different to being in a foreign country in a frightening and fast moving situation and wanting to go home.

Your comments are not helpful

Gosh, written into his contract and everything - that's interesting! And does he abide by it?

We know quite a few people there, and anyone living in high rise blocks is trying to find low rise accommodation while the idiots run riot.

I wouldn't want to be on a plane with missiles flying overhead

@pteromum
To clarify, since other posters have made the same point
I was simply sharing my perspective on timing .It’s okay if others see differently but that was my point

Yes 😞the Middle East is a hub for flights headed to East Asia and Australia and NZ so those poor people who wanted to fly via that route ( done it myself ) and are now stranded it’s scary as well as those who actually choose Dubai as a final holiday destination

Well it’s quite obvious how quickly it’s escalated. I don’t think we need someone telling us cryptically. If the person wants to tell us that they can say, “its escalated quickly” but there’s no point as we know there were flights on Weds/Thursday.

So sorry OP stay safe and try to stay calm .
I hope you’re headed home soon x

I would say to check the Foreign Office website for information. Follow advice that you are given in Dubai and by the UK authorities. If information is hard to come by in Dubai, then ask family/friends to keep you updated. If you're on a package holiday, then your tour operator has a duty to make sure you are flown home. If you've flown independently, then it's going to be down to you, to arrange alternative flights home and you may need to find alternative accommodation, at some point. Keep the British consulate number in Dubai to hand and in London.

It's a volatile and a fast ongoing situation. No airline is going to be able to tell you when ME airspace will be opening back up, at this point. Sit tight, and keep following advice you're given in Dubai.

My DS had this for years in his industry. The time he had to travel through Iran by train with the company, I was worried sick.

No, I don’t think so.

Having been stuck abroad with scant information for various reasons. We stayed packed.

Entertainment for children we played a lot of games to pass the time. Everyone gets varying degrees of cabin fever. My husband was the biggest worrier to be honest.

🤦‍♀️there’s literally no need to be this confrontational.

If you don’t like what the poster says scroll on.

I saw this reply originally when I clicked on the thread and it honestly didn’t cross my mind that the poster was being irrelevant. Or that it was worthy of cross responses from people.

Have a great evening, and maybe a glass of something that helps you relax!

Poor DN got caught in Abu Dhabi on a flight change from Thailand last night. The airport has put everyone up in a hotel for the night but has implied it might be at least 48 hours until she might fly but at this point I’m presuming that’s just guess work. She’s with a friend but she’s pretty worried.

Thanks for telling me what you do. I will be sure to comply as you seem like you need to have control.

@NaturalBlondeYeahRight

but has implied it might be at least 48 hours until she might fly but at this point I’m presuming that’s just guess work

FWIW earlier today the European regulator EASA banned all EU operators from big chunk of Gulf and ME airspace until 2 March..Now that's subject to review but I don't think that 48 hours is an unreasonable guess at (sadly) a minimum value for a delay.

Not at all. I’m just trying to say there doesn’t need to be this level of animosity.

Some of us in the thread are affected directly/indirectly by what has happened. It’s just not worth all the aggro on the thread.

I’m not replying directly to you any more.
Enjoy your evening.

@tiantian1005, you've probably already done this but, just in case - if you're on a package, contact your provider to make sure you'll be covered for additional accommodation and subsistence costs. They may have the info on their website. If you're travelling independently, check the same with your insurance company.

You should be covered due to the govt advice to shelter in place, but please do confirm with them. Sort out whether you can stay in your current accommodation and, if not, where to go. Independent travellers will not necessarily get help to relocate if needed, but package holidaymakers will.

Nobody wants this to escalate, so there's a good chance it will all stop very quickly. Fingers crossed for you!

I don't think there was any warning not to travel though?
I mean I wouldnt choose to go there but so I wasn't paying close attention but I don't recall any warnings not to travel to Dubai?

No, there weren't.

And?