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.