War in Middle East paralyses worldwide journey: Foreign Office points new recommendation to British travellers as British Airways and easyJet cancel flights
The Foreign Office has issued new advice to Britons heading to the Middle East as the Iran war paralyses international travel – with easyJet and British Airways announcing a wave of cancellations.
More than a thousand flights to Dubai, Israel, Doha, Abu Dhabi and other regional hubs have been cancelled after the US and Israel launched a coordinated attack on Iran – prompting retaliatory strikes on American allies in the region.
Now the popular destination of Cyprus has been affected, with easyJet axing two inbound and two outbound flights connecting Paphos with Gatwick and Manchester, and one inbound and one outbound flight between Larnaca and Gatwick.
EasyJet said it had made the decision in response to Iranian drone attacks on RAF Akrotiri near Limassol, but its flights tomorrow were ‘currently operating as planned’.
British Airways has also cancelled a Larnaca flight today, with the airline saying it was ‘closely monitoring the situation’.
The UK Foreign Office has advised against travel to all countries currently under attack, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Brits already in these countries have been urged to ‘immediately shelter in place’ as Iran continues retaliatory strikes following Saturday’s air assault that killed its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Unsurprisingly, the UK government is currently advising against all travel to Iran and Israel. It has also updated its guidance on Brits travelling to Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey.
The Foreign Office is currently urging any Brits flying to Cyprus to ‘take sensible precautions’ and following the advice of local authorities.
The UK government advises against all travel to parts of Egypt, including North Sinai Governorate and within 20km of the Egypt-Libya border, except for the town of El Salloum where it urges all but essential travel.
For holidaymakers hoping to go to Turkey, officials currently advise against all travel to ‘within 10km of the border with Syria’ due to ‘fighting and a heightened risk of terrorism’.
Paphos airport being evacuated following the drone attacks on RAF Akrotiri
Analytics company Cirium said 1,579 out of 3,990 flights scheduled to operate to the Middle East on Sunday were cancelled – hitting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
This included 747 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 285 to Qatar.
About half a million passengers use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi each day.
UK-based aviation consultant John Strickland said the disruption was ‘pretty unprecedented’.
He said: ‘The Gulf carriers are now so fundamental to much of global aviation, not least east-west flows between Europe and Asia.
‘I can’t recall a situation – other than the pandemic – where we’ve had these Gulf hubs out of action in this way before.
‘We’ve had other conflicts in the region, but not, I think, really in the scale of military conflict or scale of activity that we have now with the Gulf carriers.’
Mr Strickland said ‘hundreds of thousands of people’ in Dubai or other Middle Eastern hub airports ‘weren’t supposed to be there’.
He said flight options to Asia for passengers in Europe who want to avoid the Middle East include using airlines that fly straight to countries such as Thailand and Singapore.
But he warned there is ‘not much space’ on these flights as they usually operate with most seats booked, and airlines have ‘very little spare capacity available’.
Mr Strickland added: ‘There’s uncertainty about how long it’s going to last. It’s all a real complex web, and a mess.’
Jets taking off from the RAF base, which is in the south of the island
The Foreign Office warns that failing to follow its advice could invalidate your insurance.
If your flight has been cancelled following the outbreak of conflict, you could be able to request a refund, according to the the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The authority states: ‘If you chose this option you will need to confirm this with your airline. The airline should provide you with a refund within 7 days.’
It comes as officials continue to draw up plans for one of its biggest ever peacetime evacuations to rescue British expats stranded in the Middle East.
Around 102,000 Britons have registered with the Foreign Office as the UK draws up plans for one of the biggest evacuations of its citizens in peacetime.
Amongst them is an army of influencers in Dubai, although some have vowed to stay on claiming it is still safer than London despite a wave of Iranian missile strikes and suicide drone attacks on military sites, oil refineries, airports and hotels.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said today there are around 300,000 British citizens in Gulf countries targeted by Iran.
And 94,000 of those have already registered with the Foreign Office as Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers are understood to be drawing up contingency plans to evacuate them over land from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar to Saudi Arabia.
With Iranian missiles and drones still coming, Emirates Airlines confirmed that all flights operating through Dubai have been grounded until 11am GMT on Tuesday at the earliest. Qatar Airways have said that no flights will leave Doha until Tuesday morning, again at the very earliest.
Chaos at airports across the Gulf, including Dubai (pictured), as Iran hit back with drone and missile strikes, stranding 102,000 Brits in a region where 300,000 people from the UK live
British nationals are being told to register their location but stay put, for now. The UK Government has advised against travelling to 21 countries in the Middle East and the wider region.
Ms Cooper said: ‘We are setting up the support systems because as well as the 94,000 people who have been in touch when we set up the ‘register your presence’ system, there’s an estimated 300,000 British citizens in Gulf countries that have now been targeted by Iran, including countries where now airspace is closed as a result of those attacks.
‘That is, of course, extremely stressful for people who include holidaymakers and transit passengers at airports, people who have gone there for business trips, as well as those who live in the region as well.
‘So we’re saying to people, the most important thing at the moment is to follow the local advice, which in most places is around sheltering in place, and we are sending out rapid deployment teams to the region to work with the travel industry, to work with local governments as well, to make sure that citizens can get support.
‘Of course, we want people to get safely home as swiftly as possible.’ Asked if evacuation plans were being drawn up she said: ‘We are working on every possible option’ in a media round where she said it was ‘not in the UK’s interests’ to join Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran.
It came as Iran struck RAF Akrotiri last night with a ‘kamikaze’ attack drone after Sir Keir Starmer U-turned on a US request to use British military bases to hit back at Iran’s missile sites.
This morning there was a dispersal order issued for non-essential personnel at the RAF’s Cyprus hub. Families were told to pack a bag with essentials to last three to five days – although their pets will have to be left behind with ‘appropriate care’.
‘Please remain in place until directed to move by station authorities. This will be done in street order’, the British Forces memo said.
Organisers of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix said they are confident the event will not be disrupted by the travel chaos, despite many members of staff being forced to rearrange flights.
