The quiet luxury of Dubai’s high-priced hotels and resorts was punctured this weekend as Iran aimed hundreds of missiles and drones at targets across the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the Israeli-U.S. attack.
Videos posted online showed fires at five-star hotels like the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab and the Fairmont Dubai, and passengers scrambling to evacuate Dubai International Airport — one of the world’s busiest — after an explosion on a concourse injured four people.
In Abu Dhabi, one person died and seven were injured by debris from a drone that targeted Zayed International Airport. In Iran, Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East, hundreds of people have died during the ongoing conflict.
The hostilities have come as a shock to tourists, who visit the United Arab Emirates not only for the Michelin-star dining, hospitality, shopping and beaches, but also for the Emirates’ reputation as a safe destination in a volatile region. Dubai, ranked among the top 10 destinations in the world, welcomed 19.59 million tourists last year, a 5 percent increase over its previous record year in 2024, according to data published by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.
Airports in the region have become major hubs for passengers traveling to India, Africa and Asia. In 2025, more than 33 million passengers passed through Abu Dhabi’s five airports, a record.
The airstrikes forced the closure of airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, Qatar. Now, as the fighting continues, hundreds of thousands of tourists and business travelers are struggling to book flights home. At least 11,000 flights to and from the Middle East have been canceled since Saturday, and one million travelers have been affected by the disruption so far, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm.
A limited number of flights were scheduled to depart Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports on Monday.
Emirates, the region’s largest carrier, said on social media that it would prioritize stranded customers with canceled bookings. The announcement was met by hundreds of responses from panicked passengers wondering how they could get on a flight.
‘No Certainty Right Now’
Dubai International is the world’s busiest airport for international travel, with more than 95 million passengers last year. Abu Dhabi’s airport and Hamad International Airport in Qatar are also among the largest international hubs, said Henry Harteveldt, an aviation industry analyst for Atmosphere Research. He said the conflict would ripple out to airports worldwide and could chill international travel plans.
“There is no certainty right now about when the fighting will end and when it will be deemed safe for commercial flights to resume,” Mr. Harteveldt said. “Clearly, there’s going to be a lot of concern, legitimate concern, in consumers’ minds about whether they should travel through those airports, at least in the immediate aftermath of the fighting.”
Vishwas Gowda, a 23-year-old engineer who lives in Bengaluru, India, had planned for a nine-hour layover in Dubai. On Saturday morning, he was on an Emirates flight from Dubai to San Francisco when news of the airspace closures hit, and the plane turned around. Back in Dubai, it was “complete chaos and confusion,” he said, with long lines throughout the airport and “no clear next steps.”
The airline still hasn’t contacted him about when he can fly to San Francisco or back home to India, he said.
“I can’t believe there is no way for us to get out,” said Chresida Elston, a British tourist who is on vacation with her husband and two children at the Mandarin Oriental in Dubai. “It’s so surreal to be going to the beach and pretending we’re having a normal holiday to the children when there are explosions in the sky and you have no idea where the next missile will land,” she said in a phone interview.
On Saturday, emergency alerts sent to cellphones warned of potential missile threats. Tourists shared videos of themselves and others in hotel basements; on Sunday, they were advised to stay indoors.
Covered Costs
The United Arab Emirates announced on Sunday that it would cover accommodation costs for stranded visitors. The General Civil Aviation Authority said it was picking up the tab for meals and accommodation for more than 20,000 passengers who were unable to leave over the weekend.
The Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates said on Monday that 174 ballistic missiles had been launched toward the country since the start of the attack on Saturday. Additionally, 689 Iranian drones were detected, with 645 intercepted and 44 falling within the country’s territory. Several cruise missiles had been intercepted, and the resulting debris caused damage. The attacks resulted in three deaths and 68 minor injuries.
Members of the travel industry downplayed the situation, saying that the incidents of falling debris were isolated.
“Dubai has long been recognized for its infrastructure resilience, governance and crisis response capabilities,” said Ali Asgar Hussain, the managing director of Turning Point Tourism, a Dubai-based travel company.
“Things remain calm, and people are getting on with their daily lives as best they can,” said Ahmed Soliman, the managing director of Travel Connections Arabia, a consulting firm.
On Monday, the atmosphere across Dubai was calm. While some tourists ventured out, many decided to stay in their hotels.
Some people are relying on private security firms to help them leave Dubai by land to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Muscat, Oman, where private and commercial planes are operating.
“Our approach is straightforward: GPS-tracked ground transport running 24/7 from Dubai to open land borders,” said Rafal Hyps, chief executive of the global risk management firm Sicuro Group. He said the company had assisted about 1,000 people, “including employees of major multinational companies, family offices and individual travelers.”
He declined to specify the cost of getting out overland, but said it was “comparable to the price of an international air ticket.”
While a limited number of flights departed from the United Arab Emirates on Monday, there was no information on whether flights would operate on Tuesday. The government urged passengers not to travel to the airport unless their flight was confirmed.
“Normally, I would not mind being stuck in Dubai. It’s beautiful here, and there is so much to do,” said Lara Riva, an Italian tourist in Dubai whose flight home was canceled on Sunday. “But this is a very different situation.”
Rebecca Clothey, 57, a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia who was stranded in Abu Dhabi over the weekend, was looking into options to drive to the nearest operating international airport, more than five hours away in Oman, when Etihad Airways rebooked her on a flight to Bengaluru, where she had been scheduled to arrive two days earlier.
In an interview from her taxi after landing, she said that she wasn’t sure how she was selected for that flight but that only every other seat was occupied.
In Abu Dhabi, she said, she had been put up at the Grand Millennium Al Wahda, a five-star hotel, where the Emirati government covered all her expenses. Looking back on the experience, she added, “I was treated really well. But you’re thinking, ‘Am I going to be here a week? Is this situation going to get worse? I mean, how am I going to get out?’”
Gabe Castro-Root contributed reporting.
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Ceylan Yeğinsu is a travel reporter for The Times who frequently writes about the cruise industry and Europe, where she is based.
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