Was due to fly in F a week today from STN to AKL, with an overnight stopover in DXB and leaving for home 18 days later. However, UK Gov't is advising against travelling to the UAE, unless it's essential. A holiday isn't classed as essential and If I went against that advice, my travel insurance would be invalidated. I ain't gonna take the risk. So, I've chosen not to go and have submitted the form for a refund.

Surely insurance companies shouldn't be allowed to totally invalidate all cover, especially if your destination country is safe. I understand them not covering anything Iran related but anything unrelated that happens in your safe destination country should be covered in my opinion. I would understand if the whole trip is in an unsafe country but a short transit should not be enough to invalidate the whole trip.

HM Government's advice is not to travel to the UAE.
By setting foot in a Gulf state, which is being attacked by drones, shows that I'm going against that advice. It's irrespective that my final destination is a safe country. As far as the insurance company is concerned, travelling to DXB means that I'm demonstrating a total disregard of the advice and they won't provide cover.

The leather-bound food and drinks menus were replaced over a year ago with the "magazine."

Hmm, I've never seen this -- did you find out what it was like ? I didn't see it on my flights.

If any of those flights would be cancelled or disrupted in any way, Emirates would have re-routed you in First on other airlines…
Sounds like a nice opportunity to me. Why cancel so early?

They did a hard reset and the full ICE came back online.

No live TV on that sector though.

Now on EK372.

Any idea which frame was involved in this? Hopefully minor damage was incurred if true. Whichever Saudi A321 was caught up in this, it hasn't stopped it from flying as I don't believe there is one grounded at DXB

Will I be going or won't I be going? I prefer to have certainty, plus what guarantee is there that EK will be able to fly me out to AKL in First on another airline?

They will rebook on other airlines up to 3 days before departure. A lot of datapoints have shown that EK will rebook First tickets on a lot of excellent carriers including Air France La Premiere. Therefore it's a great opportunity to fly new products at a fraction of the cost. However, it all depends on one of your flights being disrupted. Luckily due to all the schedule changes, there is currently a 90% chance that at least one of your flight numbers will change.
Even then you could have cancelled 3 days before if the rebooking options were not satisfactory.

Granted that this would've been a golden opportunity to experience other F cabins, but - as you say - it all depends on one of my flights being disrupted.
I'm not "a will that or won't that happen?" type of flyer and can do without all the running around trying to sort out those separate flights. The easiest option, and for certainty, was to take up EK's offer and choose not to fly.
Now just waiting for their e-mail informing me that the money's been returned.

I had quite a complicated cancellation, just the return flight of a ticket which I had upgraded with cash. Took 12 working days to get the email and another day to get the funds back into my credit card. Other ticket was upgraded with miles, I got the money back at the same time as the other ticket, but still waiting for the miles to be re-deposited. Will wait until Friday when the 15 days are up before contacting them.

Hopefully mine isn't as long winded as yours.
My booking didn't involve any upgrades or paying for extras.
I just paid for a seat in F, arranged 6 cars to take me to and from airports - as I'd also arranged a one night's stay at an airport hotel at DXB - and that was it .
Not to be, I'm afraid.
"These things are sent to try us," as the saying goes.

Due to mass schedule changes and cancellations, almost all connecting flight itineraries the comings weeks are probably broken and disrupted in some way. Which should allow rebooking on OAL within 72hrs of travel according to the current policy.

Live from the A gates, no shortage of apple products:


Can you share those datapoints that EK is rebooking onto OAL F (especially La Premiere)?

I’m not sure if it was specifically shared in this topic before. But AF is confirmed earlier here as one of the rebooking options.

In the first week of the conflict, a befriended TA of mine told me he rebooked one of his customers with a EK F ticket on AF F.
Technically it’s still possible if your flight is disrupted and you call <72hrs before. But it’s true that we need more recent datapoints.

Btw in the BA and QR topics on the current evens, there are more detailed AF F datapoints.

Does anyone have an update on availability on lounges, food, beverages in Concourses Terminal A.B.C? It is running close to normal?

I can say the F lounge in B was pretty normal yesterday. They have part of it partitioned for the J lounge but it was the only difference I noticed. Great wine, steak, and sushi as usual.

Still troubles at DXB this morning.
Coming in from CPT on 771, perfect flight until about 10 minutes from landing. Coming down through 6000ft, suddenly climbed to 12000 and circled for close to 45 minutes. Captain announced all ops at airport suspended. Then landed, lots of parked planes everywhere (first time I came through DXB since this started). Bit like Covid times. Many gates occupied, I guess because they couldn’t take off. Parked at about C4, long walk to A2 for LHR flight. Lots of people kept in safe zone in the B concourse train station. Train jam
packed when it eventually ran. About to board at A2 but then everyone was moved to a safe area, away from the glass. Eventually allowed to board, but 60 minute wait due to congestion.

Now over Saudi.

J lounge in B is closed?

Yes it was completely roped off. But part of the F lounge was sectioned off for J.

thank you for the update!!

Thank you for the update and posting your real experience. Is the "safe area" on the ground floor or in a basement? Were you partially through boarding at A2 when it happened, were people who were already on board allowed to stay on board or was it a de-board and re-board situation ? If someone has a tight connection, are they met on de-planing?

Try as I might (by flying, not by ordering drones/missiles through Careem, I promise), I simply haven't been able to be in the airport during an alert, so definitely curious to know

Separately, while it affects a likely small portion of FT, I've been hearing from reliable sources that those with Iranian passports (even those with valid visas, including Golden Visas) have not been being accepted for travel (destination or transit) through DXB.

There seemed to have been 2 ‘safe areas’, one at train station level (we noticed that at B concourse) and one at arrivals level, but away from the glass enclosure . That’s where we were taken from the boarding area for A2. They had not started boarding yet at that sate, we did see the crew board though. Not sure if they were taken off. IIRC the BP’s said ‘gate open at 8am’ and this was maybe 20 minutes before that. Although I was in J, I followed the Y route / procedure as Mrs t was in Y.
Must say that - in spite of all the goings on - we never felt anxious or ‘in danger’. There were lots of uniformed security people around but all were very calm and gave clear instructions. We got the feeling things were ‘under control’. Remarkably it was very quiet, with a few hundred people waiting no one spoke.

Have relatives due to come back from Brisbane in a couple of weeks. Emirates have suspended this route for the time being but are not offering an alternative route untill minus 72 hours ; isn't this a bit late?

This is what put me off going for that re-routing just 3 days before I'm due to fly. It's like being on tenterhooks, which is why I opted for a refund. I got all my money back

This is what put me off going for re-routing. Having to wait 3 days before I'm due to fly. It's like being on tenterhooks, which is why I opted for a refund. I got all my money back 9 days after I completed the refund form online.

I came in on Ek768 from.johannesburg and must have been 1 hour before this happened. I was catching a taxi as we crossed the road by airport we were told to get inside and not be on road, received my first alert on my phone.

Flight was full

After multiple changes in schedule and mess ups by emirates, we transited back on Sunday through Dubai. We had a 24 hour layover spent in the Copthorne Airport Hotel (a living tribute to Forte Crest service station hotels)

We were due to arrive from Perth at around 5.30am but a tailwind got us in at 4.50 had to circle a few times before landing and the came in pretty fast, I just assumed it was our early arrival. The planned A380 was downgraded to an A350

As we headed through arrivals we got held just before the escalators down to immigration for about 20 mins, we were told this was due to congestion but phone alerts suggested otherwise!

Got minibus to hotel and slept a few hours then jumped on the metro into downtown Dubai (not ever on my list of destinations but since I was there). It was pretty quiet, staff outnumbered customers in the mall. Wandered round then got a careem app back to hotel. I didn’t feel unsafe but the idea life is normal and everywhere is busy is a fallacy.

Back at hotel, We sat around the M Society beer garden, again it was empty and most of the restaurants and bars were in reduced hours or closed. From speaking with fellow pax, most chose to just stay in their rooms. We wandered around the adjoining Millenium Resort and it was a ghost town.

Headed to bed and was awoken by 4 text alerts overnight, no need for bunkers etc, we were told to just stay away from windows.

A350 Flight back to Newcastle was about 75% full but premium economy wasn’t in use (assumed because the regular 777 on the route doesn’t have it). Airport was very quiet, again staffing numbers like the mall vastly outweighed passengers. Emirates crew on both legs were great, very proactive.

I really feel for the staff in the shops, bars and hotels in Dubai as you feel this can’t continue much longer for them

I work in the first sector, and business is approx -30% to -75% depending on the brand positioning.

In the 3 industries you mentioned, it feels like summer's come early -- the consumer demographic has become what it normally is in the summer (expats who haven't left), and I know hotels, as well as EK actually, have been furlough-ing staff. EK has been keeping flight deck crew on a reduced rotation in order to keep their qualifications (apparently they need to do a minimum # of hours to keep their certifications? not sure), however a lot of cabin crew are twiddling their thumbs.

I passed through last weekend and I had a similar experience, on arrival there was maybe 4 immigration officers but no lines, the luggage belts only one was operating for our flight mid afternoon. Was literally a ghost town nobody else around, eventually a few passenger's from my flight arrived. The roads were very quiet no congestion, went into festival mall near the airport and got parking near the entrance, apart from a few locals no tourist whatsoever, just conversations by staff over having no work. Got to the Hilton Habtoor and only 3 floors are being operated by the hotel and its offering free dinner to keep footfall in the hotel. Still was empty. On the return flight we did get held for a while at the train station within the airport. Apart from this no other hold up, it was interesting they had a mobile which told them to allow and not allow staff but no pings on my phone of any incoming missiles. I guess they have excluded the area from the pings. Return flight was about 70% full back to LHR and seemed to be mainly transit. I was speaking to crew and they shared pilots are informed they need to continue flying auto until they get to 1000ft and then take over, probably explains why all landings look like the same profile on FR24.

Flew out from Glasgow this week.

Check-in: I was the only one at the check-in desk for a long time, hung around due to having a Greggs nearby (as one does).

EK lounge: A total of 12 pax in the lounge. Was told upon entering the lounge that there is a change to the hot food where it is now served an hour later than normal due to low footfall. Some staff also told me that they were doing 'dine on demand' for the first few days of the conflict as there were literally single digit numbers on flights then but as numbers are somewhat increasing, the full buffet was back on. Cold food was unaffected and the normal display on offer since entering the lounge. Another thing I noticed both here in Glasgow and the Dubai lounge were that all newspapers were taken off the racks (including local and foreign ones). Magazine display was unaffected. Overall dire situation for the people serving the lounge in normal days, hopefully things start to improve. Was good to see standards and quality not being compromised on the food as several different members of EK staff with the dark brown'ish colours taking photos, talking to the chef as well the EK staff in the lighter coloured clothing also reviewing the food layout etc at regular intervals despite there only being 12 pax. This was in addition to the catering team who serve the lounge doing the rounds/checks regularly topping up dishes.

Flight: This flight is normally served by an A380. Due to low numbers, it was instead being operated by an A350. There were a total of 108 pax booked on the GLA-DXB sector. I had a full row to myself as did most others. Service remain unchanged i.e. gold status recognition, food, good service and chat with the crew. Found the wifi on the A350 way better than the A380's. Maybe due to lower numbers or perhaps better technology?

Transit: Landed at C-gates and luckily with the 1hr 20 mins connection, the onward gate to Shanghai was from C too. Security / connections wasn't busy, only one lane open. I was expecting the terminal to be a ghost town but was surprised to see a healthy amount of traffic in C terminal. First lounge was closed (but open at A and B I was told). Business class lounge at C gates was quiet, plenty of empty seats and managed to get a sneaky shower before my onward flight which I know wouldn't have been possible in normal days.

EK302 - DXB to PVG: business class 70% full, economy was half full I was told or there abouts. No complaints and good service all round. Pursuer and staff friendly, caring and upbeat about the future.

Additional info: one thing I noticed how good the communication was on this trip. EK sent regular text messages throughout my journey advising of gate information, luggage belt numbers and boarding gate announcements.

Transited 12-13 April from EK236 > 358.

ON arrival Sunday night from ORD place was a ghost town but may have just been the timing as we got in slightly early. No one at immigration.

Dubai connect was as normal, nice BMW rides. Jw per usually for F guests, hotel quiet. I don’t think I give that place enough credit it is a great hotel for a comped stay.

Next morning all felt more normal, terminal was buzzing as the 8-11am bank seems to be a busy one right now.

Spent some time in A first lounge from like 5-8am, not very crowded.B lounge is a combo Biz and F right now with dining partitioned off for F. Had I know I would have stayed in A longer. Menu the more of else the same, staff as always accommodating and lovely. As I posted in the wine thread lots of good stuff flowing.

if I were living under a rock for the past month I wouldn’t have known there was a threat of war. No alerts or movement to the basement. Really felt no different than usual.

Cabin crew all normal, normal service flow.

We have a trip planned in late July: MIA-DXB, 4 days in DXB, and then DXB-CPT. Two weeks later, the return flight is JNB-DXB-MIA. So far, EK has not reinstated MIA flights. I haven't taken any action to cancel flights yet, as I am still hopeful that the war will be over within one or two months. The bookings are in Business Saver, so I think there would be a nominal cancellation charge, but I'd like to keep this trip as is. If the war is still on by the end of May, I'll probably cancel as I don't want to have to wait until three days before our trip to get rebooked.

That being said, EK is operating flights from ORD, JFK, BOS, and IAD from the Eastern US, but none from MIA, IAH, MCO, or EWR. I could attempt to change to one of these with a connecting domestic flight, but I suspect that EK would not allow that right now. Decisions, decisions.

18 April update- C First lounge closed, got distracted and forgot to ask why. B lounges back to normal with the regular J and F lounge sides.

Everything busy this morning, transit security, lounges, concourses.

More travels with EK recently and a lot more coming in May.

HKG-DXB
Both flights of the day oversold. Was in donkey class expecting a cheeky upgrade but did not happen due to some late no shows (including me as I had another ticket on the same flight which I will not use until later in the year). Check in line was extremely long and they allowed me to check in about 6 hours early. Lounge was fairly busy largely due to the first flight going to Bangkok which is always busy. Onboard service was great as always, no complaints. Landed in at C gates.

DXB 24 hour layover
I would say there were equally the same amount of people going to immigration and to transit, which was good to see. There was a line at the normal immigration counters but was lots of empty ones at the smart gates. Bag came on the belt at no time. Got an uber to my hotel without any waiting or issues, car park was busy. Multiple uber drivers told me the same thing - it's picking up and May is the month they've been expected to go back to normal levels. There is traffic on the roads which is good to see and if one were to look at social media, it would seem everything is quiet. Spent a few hours at Dubai Mall, sure there are fewer numbers but as the night on, traffic did pick up. Marriott hotel where I stayed on Sh Zayed Road had a capacity of approx 60-70% according to the front desk. Breakfast was busy'ish so did reflect this.

Dubai Metro
I did get to experience this and was hoping I would get a seat given the low footfall but boy was I wrong!

EK600 to Karachi
Checkin was busy, had to wait in the business class queue for 10 minutes. Immigration and security was busy yet was prompt. Trains to concourse A were bursting. Business class Lounge at concourse A was only operational on one side (right hand side), The left hand side was closed off and only people who had boarding from one of those gates were being allowed to go through. Flight was smooth, I would say 80% capacity with a few empty seats here and there. Crew were ace and accommodting as always.

Whatsapp and SMS comms
See below example, it was good to see good use of technology to keep pax updated.

https://ibb.co/0pyrcspC

https://ibb.co/RkMbVMPQ

Hello all;
Have an IAH-DXB-BOM For Tuesday 5th. (First Flex Award)
IAH flights have not yet been reinstated as far as I understand.

In this case, can I call and ask for re-route on other airlines? (BA is the only one that has seats in First).
And I can only call within the 72-hour timeline?

Or will EK re-route through other departure points but via DXB (e.g., IAH-XXX-DXB-BOM)?

What is going on with the flight (215) it landed in Munich and now it isn't taking off until tomorrow. Dubai-LAX
Any ideas?

I'm hoping for some help... EK disrupted flights on my outbound and inbound flights (decreased frequency).

The flights are EU-TNR-EU

I'm asking for rerouting but they say it could only be on EK flights..

Original flights

May 15 KTW-WAW-DXB-TNR (arrival on May16), they cancelled DXB-TNR

May 29 TNR-DXB-WAW-KTW (arrival on May 29), they cancelled DXB-WAW

I asked for routing with Lufthansa and Ethiopian, or LO and Ethiopian but they say they can't do it.

What does the wisdom of the group recommend?