A fire has broken out near the entrance of a five-star hotel in Dubai, which is believed to have been struck by drone debris during Iran’s air attack.
Footage posted on social media shows a fire just outside the Fairmont in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah after a projectile landed outside. Four people are understood to have been injured.
People across the Middle East, including in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been urged to shelter indoors during the Iran air raids, triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran yesterday.
Explosions can be heard in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan as Iran missiles aimed at Israel and military bases in the Middle East are being intercepted.
All flights in and out of the Dubai have been cancelled at least until tomorrow (1 March) afternoon while Abu Dhabi flights have been cancelled until this evening (28 February).
Other airports in the Middle East, including Doha in Qatar, have also suspended services.
The Foreign Office is advising Britons in the region, including the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain to ‘immediately shelter in place’. It added they should ‘remain indoors in a secure location, avoid all travel and follow instructions from the local authorities’. It is also warning against all travel to Israel and Palestine.
The disruption is affecting travel to and from the Indian Ocean, Asia and Australia, with flights due to operate via the Middle East grounded, re-routed or diverted.
Several tour operators have issued updates on social media to let agents know how they are handling the situation.
Travelpack issued an appeal on Saturday afternoon to agents to be patient while it works through the necessary changes to customers’ itineraries.
“We are closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation and its impact on commercial aviation, particularly concerning flights operating to, from, and over the affected regions, including popular transit hubs such as Dubai,” said Director Vishal Patel.
“The safety and well-being of our clients is our absolute priority. Our operations and aviation teams are currently working around the clock to assist customers whose flights and holiday itineraries have been impacted by rerouting, delays, or cancellations.
“To manage the high volume of schedule changes effectively, Travelpack has implemented a systematic handling process for all affected bookings. We are currently running detailed reports to identify every impacted passenger and are working through these systematically.
“Our immediate focus is on imminent departures.
“We are strictly prioritising customers who are due to travel within the next 24 to 48 hours, alongside those who are currently in-resort or in transit.
“Once these immediate departures have been secured and re-accommodated, our teams will systematically work through bookings with later departure dates.”
He said flight-related queries, cancellations, and rebooking requests regarding this situation should be sent directly to [email protected], not to the global admin.
“If your client is not travelling within the next 48 hours, please bear with us,” said Vishal. “We will proactively reach out regarding future affected bookings as soon as the immediate crisis window is managed.”
Beachcomber Tours issued the following statement on Facebook: “Like many travel providers, Beachcomber Tours is currently navigating significant uncertainty following recent events in the Middle East. The airline situation remains highly fluid. At present, Middle East–based carriers have paused operations, and we do not yet have confirmation regarding when or how services will resume.
