I flew from Mumbai to Dubai on an Emirates repatriation flight, one of several running over the last 24 hours and one of the first flights back into the country since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran at the weekend.
Most flights to and from the UAE have been grounded, resulting in hundreds of cancellations, thousands stranded both in and outside the Middle East, and global travel disruption as the strikes in Iran escalated into a wider regional conflict.
But on Monday, Emirates and Etihad announced a small number of flights to and from Dubai: repatriation flights for Emirati nationals and residents, and others to evacuate tourists stranded in the country.
But with around just 30 minutes left of the 3.5-hour journey from Mumbai to Dubai, the captain of the Emirates flight — an Airbus A380, which was only about half full — informed passengers we would have to turn around due to missiles fired by Iran on the UAE.
About 15 minutes later, the captain told passengers that the airspace had reopened, and we had clearance to land in Dubai, where we arrived at an almost empty airport.
