Travellers caught by the expanding conflict in the Middle East started leaving the United Arab Emirates on a limited series of evacuation flights on Monday, while governments worldwide coordinated the removal of their citizens from the area.
Airlines Etihad Airways and Emirates, headquartered in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, together with low‑cost carrier FlyDubai, announced they would run a small number of flights following the disruption caused by Iranian missiles and drones.
Since Saturday, at least 11,000 flights to, from and within the Middle East have been cancelled, affecting more than one million passengers, according to aviation data firm Cirium. The disruption appears likely to persist, with U.S. President Donald Trump stating on Monday that the hostilities were expected to last four to five weeks but could extend further.
Late on Monday the U.S. State Department urged Americans to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as the conflict escalated after U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday.
Mora Namdar, the department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs, advised U.S. citizens to depart using any available commercial transport “because of safety risks”. The United States has not arranged its own evacuation flights.
In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government was deploying rapid‑response teams to the region to assist British nationals and 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 assistance and to monitor the Home Office travel advice, which is being updated regularly.”
Etihad Airways flight EY67, carrying stranded British nationals, left Abu Dhabi on Monday afternoon and arrived at Heathrow that evening, according to flight‑tracking service Flightradar24.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reported that 102,000 British nationals had registered their location in the region, and that roughly 300,000 Britons were in Gulf states targeted by Iran.
Dubai’s authorities advised passengers on Monday to travel to airports only if they were contacted directly, noting that operations remained limited.
At least 16 Etihad flights departed Abu Dhabi within a three‑hour period on Monday, Flightradar24 data show, heading to destinations such as Islamabad, Paris, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Moscow and London. The carrier’s website, however, indicated that all regular commercial services would stay suspended until Wednesday afternoon.
Emirates said travelers with earlier reservations would receive priority on the limited flights it planned to launch Monday evening. FlyDubai announced four departures from the city and five arrivals on Monday, adding that schedules could change rapidly as the situation develops.
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