British Airways has cancelled flights from London to Dubai and Qatar after Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites early on Sunday morning. The airline said its flight schedule from London to Dubai and Doha, Qatar, has been “adjusted” in the wake of the attack, which targeted three nuclear facilities in Iran and provoked a retaliatory barrage of ballistic missiles against Israel. It came after a British Airways (BA) flight from Heathrow to Dubai was diverted to Zurich Airport on Saturday night, after passengers had spent nine hours in the air.
The plane departed from London at 9:53pm and kept to its course for five hours – with the route taking the Boeing 787 Dreamliner above Egypt, the Red Sea and into Saudi Arabian airspace. At around 2:48am BST, however, following the escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, the aircraft turned around and, lacking the fuel to return to Heathrow, landed in Switzerland, according to Flightradar24.
All BA flights to Dubai and Doha that were scheduled to depart from Heathrow on Sunday have been cancelled, including return journeys, the company said.
Over 1,000 Brits are reportedly waiting to be flown home in Dubai as a result of the cancellations.
In a statement, BA said: “As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority.
“We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation.”
Israel also announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to inbound and outbound flights as a result of the US attacks.
Emirates flights from the UK to Dubai and Doha at airports including Heathrow, Stansted and Birmingham appear to be operating as normal, as do journeys from Gatwick, according to its website.
British traveller Alex Cairns, who was booked onto a cancelled return flight from Dubai to London on Sunday, said he wanted to get home “as soon as possible” amid fears about the situation “getting worse” – with Dubai under 100 miles from Iranian mainland.
“Emirates flights are busy so BA couldn’t get me away [until] maybe Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. So instead I’ve got a refund and now re-booked myself on Qatar airways for tomorrow,” he told The Independent.
“I’m worried about the situation getting worse, so I want to get out as soon as possible. It’s an evolving situation.”