Travel skilled Simon Calder’s pressing recommendation for Brits with Dubai and Abu Dhabi flights
Travel expert Simon Calder has issued advice for holidaymakers with trips planned to or via Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar as flights are cancelled due to military action in Iran
Emirates airline planes are parked on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport in Dubai (Image: Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)
A travel expert has shared his advice for people with journeys planned either to or via Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
Thousands of flights to and from these airports have been cancelled over the past few days due to the military conflict in Iran. The Foreign Office is advising British citizens against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
It means hundreds of thousands of travellers are stuck in the region, many of whom are either British or seeking to fly to the UK. Travel expert Simon Calder said “All you can do is follow the Foreign Office guidance”.
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He said that while some Etihad flights left Abu Dhabi on Monday and others are scheduled to fly to Manchester and Heathrow from Dubai, this is “barely scratching the surface”. He told Good Morning Britain: “I’m afraid it’s a numbers game”.
When asked about who is responsible for the costs of hotels and alternative flights for passengers whose flights have been cancelled, he said: “Tens of thousands of people are in this really difficult gap between where air passenger rights end and travel insurance begins because bizarrely if you’re travelling out from the UK to anywhere then you’ve got automatic air passenger rights. If you are on a non-UK airline, such as Emirates, Eithad, Qatar Airways, and you’re coming from outside Europe, you have no such rights.”, reports Glasgow Live.
Presenter Susanna Reid asked what holidaymakers with trips booked to or via the Middle East from the UK should do. He replied: “It all depends. If you are going in the next week to anywhere in the Gulf, there is very little chance that you will be going.
“Not least because the airlines want to keep as many empty seats as they possibly can to rescue people. You need to talk to your travel provider, there’s no certainty about that yet.
“If you’re looking at the coming month then the chances are that things will be back to normal. Please don’t cancel at this stage”. He added: “It’s [a case of] wait and see”.
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