British tourists in Doha and Dubai have spoken to Sky News of their experience of being stranded during the conflict in Iran.
Flight operations remained largely suspended for a third day, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded as aviation faced its biggest test since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The war in the Middle East expanded further on Monday as Israel and the US pounded Iran in a campaign that US President Donald Trump said would probably take several weeks.
Meanwhile, Tehran and its allies struck back against Israel, neighbouring Gulf states and targets vital to the world’s production of oil and natural gas.
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Iran’s retaliation to US and Israeli attacks has threatened British people across the Middle East.
Around 300,000 Britons are believed to be in countries targeted by Iran, with 102,000 registering their presence with the Foreign Office, as officials worked on contingency plans, including a potential mass evacuation.
Large areas of airspace remained closed across the Middle East amid the deepening conflict between Iran and US-Israeli forces.
Long-haul carriers Etihad Airways and Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and budget carrier FlyDubai, said they would operate select flights from the country, where air traffic was suspended on Saturday and defence systems have intercepted missiles and drones from Iran.
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Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK government is “looking at all options to support our people” as a small number of flights departed from Abu Dhabi.
Dubai’s government told passengers to head to airports only if they were contacted directly, during what it said would be a “limited resumption of operations”.
British tourists Gary Gore, 57, and his wife Laura, 48, from Suffolk, are currently holidaying in Doha.
Mr Gore, a partner at a global professional services firm, told Sky News: “We’ve started off to be an amazing trip in this beautiful hotel with wonderful sunshine and, unfortunately, it’s turned into a nightmare from hell.”
Ms Gore, a director at a global SaaS company, said the “missiles started on Saturday”.
She added: “We’re living out of our hotel room. We’re packed, ready to go. Missiles are going out all the time. Complete uncertainty.
“We’ve got our grab bag in case we have to run out of the hotel room.”
Brit Terry Dunne, 55, and his wife Joanne, 52, from Bradford, are in Dubai on what was meant to be a week-long holiday.
Mr Dunne, an offshore operative, said they were outside in the pool when the first missiles hit, and staff yelled at them to get inside.
He told Sky News: “Sunday night a boom or a bomb went off outside the hotel, waking us up with security alerts to our phones.
“In the morning, a further explosion happened above the hotel. It must have been shot down, and we all had to evacuate inside the hotel from the orders of the hotel staff.”
Mr Dunne said Joanne, a university administrator, had to jump out of the pool and get back in the hotel as there was an explosion a “couple of hundred feet in the air”.
Overlooking the scene from his hotel balcony, he said everything in the street appeared deserted, with people being told to keep indoors as much as possible.
Mr Dunne claimed his insurance company was not interested in helping the couple, adding that both the airline and travel company were also refusing to help with accommodation.
The couple have also tried to contact the Foreign Office and the hotel, but have so far received nothing.
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Mr Dunne said the couple have had no option but to put a further stay on their credit card, adding they will have to “hope for the best” for now.
Mr Dunne said: “Me and my wife spent all day yesterday in the hotel as advised by the Foreign Office to stay put and keep ourselves safe.
“We’ve done absolutely nothing, really. Everything’s closed, the pool and everything.”
