What You Need to Know
-
British Airways will resume flights between London Heathrow and Dubai on Monday night.
-
Flights to Bahrain and Doha remain suspended after the Iranian attack on Qatar on Monday.
-
Security officials urge British citizens to remain vigilant amid heightened tensions throughout the Gulf.
-
Brits warned that flights could be canceled or disrupted with little or no warning.
British Airways has confirmed that it will resume flights to Dubai on Monday evening, despite other European and North American airlines suspending their flights to destinations across the Persian Gulf.
The security situation in the region is tenser than ever after Iran launched an isolated missile attack on a US air force base in Qatar on Monday. In the aftermath of the attack, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait closed their airspace.
The United Arab Emirates also closed its airspace for a very short period, but flights were allowed to continue to and from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, not long after the Iranian attack concluded.
British Airways flight BA109 is expected to depart London Heathrow at 9:30 pm tonight, followed by flight BA105 at 10:30 pm. The two planes will carry as many as 451 passengers between them and are scheduled to arrive in Dubai early on Tuesday morning.
There are thousands of British nationals currently stranded in Dubai after British Airways grounded all of its flights to the emirate on Saturday night and throughout Sunday. An earlier flight scheduled to leave Heathrow on Monday afternoon was also canceled.
Surprisingly, however, a spokesperson for British Airways has now confirmed that the airline has no plans to cancel any further flights to Dubai, although a flexible ebooking policy has been put in place for any passengers who are concerned about the developing situation.
What Is the Foreign Office Saying?
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has recently updated its travel advice for the United Arab Emirates, saying:
“Ongoing hostilities in the region and between Israel and Iran have the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning including since US military strikes against Iran on 22 June.”
There is a possibility of travel disruption, including short-notice airspace closures, delayed and cancelled flights, and other unanticipated travel impacts.”
British Airways has, however, suspended flights to both Bahrain and Doha.
In a statement, a spokesperson for BA said: “Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest developments, we have suspended flights to and from Doha up to and including Wednesday 25 June.”
“We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options and will keep the situation under review.”
Other airlines have, however, decided to avoid Dubai, including German flag carrier Lufthansa, which had tried to maintain its schedule after the US strike on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night.
Lufthansa flight LH630 departed Frankfurt at 3 pm on Monday, bound for Dubai, and had already reached Egyptian airspace when the pilots were ordered to divert back to Germany.
Air France has grounded its Dubai service until June 25, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines until June 26, Singapore Airlines until June 25, and United Airlines until July 1.
On Monday night, Air India said it had “ceased all operations to the region as well as to and from the East Coast of North America and Europe with immediate effect, until further notice.”
The statement continued: “Air India is in continuous consultation with its external security advisors and is vigilantly monitoring the evolving situation. We will keep our passengers informed of any updates. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our number one priority.”
