My Emirates flight to Dubai reversed twice because of Iranian missiles

I flew from Mumbai to Dubai on an Emirates repatriation flight, one of several running over the last 24 hours and one of the first flights back into the country since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran over the weekend.

Most flights to and from the UAE have been grounded, resulting in hundreds of cancellations, thousands stranded both in and outside the Middle East, and global travel disruption as the strikes in Iran escalated into a wider regional conflict.

On Monday, Emirates and Etihad announced a small number of flights to and from Dubai: repatriation flights for Emirati nationals and residents, and others to evacuate tourists stranded in the country.

With around just 30 minutes left of the 3.5-hour journey from Mumbai to Dubai, the captain of the Emirates flight — an Airbus A380, which was only about half full — informed passengers we would have to turn around due to missiles fired by Iran on the UAE.

About 15 minutes later, the captain told passengers that the airspace had reopened, and we had clearance to land in Dubai, where we arrived at an almost empty airport.

The arrivals board was blank, but a small number of passengers appeared to be departing on repatriation flights back to the U.K.

When the war began, I was on holiday in Goa, India with my partner and due to fly back on Sunday, but our direct flight home to the UAE was cancelled. My bosses suggested I go to CNBC’s bureau in Singapore to wait out the conflict and work from there. We headed to the airport in Goa on Monday night to catch our flight via Mumbai to Singapore.

When we reached Mumbai’s airport, we checked the departures board for our Singapore leg and saw an Emirates flight departing for Dubai at 2:20 am. I had been in touch with Emirates, Etihad and Dubai Airports all weekend for my reporting, but was shocked to see a flight. We went to the Emirates desk to find out more.

To my surprise, they told us we could book flights if we were UAE residents or nationals. They asked us to book on the spot, via the airline’s app, and show our Emirates ID, a national ID card for residents across the country.

We stood at the desk, contemplating whether to fly back into an active war. I consulted CNBC’s security team and together, we decided it would be best to go home. My team had been on the ground for days reporting and working from the UAE, and I couldn’t refuse the chance to go back. My partner and I agreed that we may not get the chance again anytime soon.

We boarded the very quiet flight and spoke with other passengers, a mix of Emiratis and expats residing in Dubai. Many of them had tried in recent days to board flights to Saudi Arabia or Oman, hoping to cross back into the UAE from there.

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