Passengers leave Dubai on ‘limited’ Emirates flights following Iran strikes

Although the airport is not fully open, the airline has resumed operations TravelNews & AdvicePassengers leave Dubai on ‘limited’ Emirates flights following Iran strikesAlthough the airport is not fully open, the airline has resumed operations Natalie Wilson Tuesday 03 March 2026 11:32 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverEmirates began ‘operating a limited number of flights’ on Monday evening (Getty Images)Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreBritish travellers stranded in the Gulf by escalating conflict have begun taking off on “limited” flights to the UK. Airspace closures across the Middle East followed strikes between the US, Israel and Iran this weekend, shutting several busy aviation hubs in the region.Although Dubai airport is not fully open, “limited” flights resumed yesterday evening. An Emirates flight from Dubai International airport (DXB) is expected to land in Manchester this afternoon.Other Emirates flights to London Heathrow, Gatwick, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Paris and Bengaluru took off on Tuesday morning, per FlightRadar24.DXB said in a passenger advisory on Monday: “Limited airport operations have resumed today (March 2) with a small number of flights operating from DXB and DWC.“Passengers must not travel to the airport unless they have received a confirmed departure time directly from their airline, as schedules remain subject to change. If you have received a confirmed departure flight from your airline, please also check which Terminal your flight is departing from.”UAE airspace has partially reopened under restricted corridors since closing on Saturday.Emirates, the UAE flag carrier, also said it would operate “a limited number of flights” from Monday evening.The airline said: “We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority and those who have been rebooked to travel on these limited flights will be contacted directly by Emirates.”Zayed International airport advised passengers not to travel to the airport unless they have been “explicitly advised by their airline to do so”. Access to the airport in Abu Dhabi will be restricted to confirmed travellers only.According to Cirium, the aviation analytics firm, 78.13 per cent of flights from the UK to the UAE remain cancelled on Tuesday. Etihad added that all scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi remain suspended until 2pm local time on Thursday, 5 March.The airline said: “Some repositioning, cargo and repatriation flights may operate in coordination with UAE authorities and subject to strict operational and safety approvals.”Read more: Gulf airlines to resume some flights after Iran strikes closed airspaceMore aboutUAEFlightsIranUKEmiratesJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesCommentsMost popularPopular videosBulletinRead next