For many, the experience underscored just how deeply their lives had become established in the UAE.
We seldom express our affection for home unless prompted. Usually, that feeling lingers quietly in the background, shaped by years of daily routines and small, ordinary moments: exchanging smiles with familiar faces at the grocery store, strolling through the neighborhood park, or pausing to play with a neighbor’s dog.
It is through these subtle rituals that a place gradually becomes part of you, until one day you realise that home is no longer merely where you live, but where you genuinely belong.
Then comes the unease—the thought that it could be some time before you return. That anxiety swept through UAE residents abroad on holiday when Middle East tensions disrupted airspace, prompting airlines to cancel or reroute flights. Major carriers, including Emirates and Etihad Airways, temporarily suspended or adjusted several routes while closely monitoring the situation.
Flights gradually began to resume, cautiously and in stages. For days, residents remained in limbo, trapped in a cycle of hope and frustration. For many expatriates, the experience served as a striking reminder of how deeply their lives had become rooted in the UAE.
‘My First Thought Was My Dog’
For pet owners, being away from home during a crisis can be particularly stressful—a concern that was among the first things on Dubai-based Nikki Dickinson’s mind.
For Nikki, a real estate broker, the disruption came at the end of a winter getaway in Europe. Having lived in the UAE for about six and a half years, she and a friend were skiing when their return flight from Geneva was suddenly cancelled on February 28. “We were flying with Emirates, whose ground staff were fantastic—they immediately moved us into a hotel and provided food vouchers,” she recalled. “Communication with the airline was excellent, and we were able to speak directly with the Emirates team.”
Despite the uncertainty, the situation was resolved quickly. A few days later, she received good news: she had been placed on one of the first repatriation flights. “We were called for one of the first repatriation flights on Tuesday, March 3,” she said. “We flew Lufthansa to Munich, had a seven-hour layover, and then boarded an Emirates repatriation flight, arriving back in Dubai on Wednesday.”
Amid the chaos, a support network emerged. “During the experience, we formed a group of friends and kept each other’s spirits up while waiting for news of when we could return,” she said.
Watching the crisis unfold from afar felt surreal. “When we learned the UAE was intercepting missiles, it felt very strange not to be there. My first thought, honestly, was my dog,” she added.
“You don’t realize a country is truly home until you’re unsure when you’ll be back,” says Nikki. “I realized how strongly I now feel that the UAE is home. I just wanted to return to the UAE and the life I’ve built there.”
Despite the regional tensions, she never wavered in her decision to return. “The UAE has given me every opportunity to create a wonderful life, and I trust the country’s leadership—so there was never any question in my mind about flying back on a repatriation flight.”
Relief washed over her when the plane finally touched down in Dubai. Being home again brought a sense of peace.
“During the experience, we formed a fantastic group of friends and kept each other’s spirits up while waiting for news of when we could return,” Nikki reflects.
‘The UAE Is My Only Home’: Why Residents Fought to Return Amid Flight Disruptions During US-Iran-Israel War
Nikki Dickinson, Real Estate Broker
‘How Long Until We Can Get Back?’
Louise Collins was in India, travelling with her husband, when she realized that returning to Dubai—her home for the past two and a half years—might be challenging. “I find the mix of personal and professional opportunities, a multicultural population, supportive business networks, and the lifestyle to be unbeatable,” she said.
When news of escalating tensions and airspace disruptions broke, anxiety set in immediately. “My first thought was: how long until we can get home—back to Dubai?”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, returning to her daily life in the UAE remained her priority. “Returning to my life, work, and friends in my adopted home was my only concern. I had no hesitation in returning as soon as I could.”
Like many travellers, she faced several days of uncertainty before her flight plans changed and were ultimately cancelled. Determined to get home, she persevered and secured new seats by calling the airline. “After some persistence, I rebooked by phone, and someone very kindly and calmly got seats for both of us on the next flight back—a big relief, because we were on different bookings.”
‘The UAE Is My Only Home’: Returning Amid Flight Disruptions
“It was a strange feeling to be glad to be back, and yet it didn’t feel strange. After all, it’s home,” reflects Louise Collins from Dubai. “My immediate thought was: how long until we can get home—back to Dubai?”
‘I’ve Lived More Than Half My Life Here’
For many, the disruption highlighted just how quickly the world can pull the rug from under you. One moment, you could be skiing, trying a new dish, or simply resting on a holiday. The next, the skies close, and you can’t get home—turning a vacation into a period of uncertainty.
Fiona Falconer, a pilates instructor who has spent more than 28 years in the UAE, experienced this firsthand. While visiting Newcastle on a Saturday, her flight was cancelled. “It was a very weird feeling, and all I wanted to do was get home. I’ve lived half my life there,” she says. She initially struggled to get through to the airline, despite seeing the desk at the airport. Eventually, overhearing someone mention a Newcastle flight, she managed to arrange a route back home.
Realising How Much Home Means
“In those moments, you truly realise how much you love your home,” says Fiona Falconer, a pilates instructor and wellness advocate. “My children were away, and it was just my husband at home, so I was worried about him.” Despite the stress, she commends the airlines for their efficiency in bringing her back safely.
“It was a very weird feeling, and all I wanted to do was get home. I’ve lived half my life there,” she adds.
Returning to Community
For Sarah Silsbury, a Dubai-based stylist and British expatriate, the sense of belonging hit her the moment she returned. “Walking into that airport, being greeted with smiles, it hit me all at once. There is a real community in Dubai. Coming back to it, I was completely overwhelmed,” she says.
Silsbury knows firsthand what it means to feel caught between two worlds. She had planned a simple long weekend trip to see her daughter in the UK, only to find herself in a frantic effort to return to the life she had built in the UAE over the past five years.
A Long Weekend That Turned Into a Week of Anxiety
“I’d gone to see my daughter, just a long weekend, nothing more,” recalls Sarah Silsbury, a Dubai-based stylist. “I was flying in and out of Heathrow. I left Dubai on a Friday night, and then, on Saturday morning, my husband rang me and said—don’t look at the news.” She pauses. “Obviously, I did.”
What followed was a week of mounting anxiety and cascading cancellations. Her Tuesday flight was scrapped. She was rebooked onto an early Wednesday morning departure and sent to an airport hotel—only for that flight to be cancelled as well. Hope finally returned when the UAE announced it would operate repatriation flights.
When she finally arrived at the airport, relief washed over her, bolstered by the Emirates team. “I got a little teary-eyed,” she admits. “I was so stressed, and they just—they hugged me. They told me everything was going to be okay. They were navigating an incredibly uncertain situation, and they still made me feel cared for. That was the moment I truly understood why I call the UAE my home.”
For Silsbury, it wasn’t only the warmth at the airport that affirmed her connection. A prior unsettling experience on the London Underground had already reinforced it. “My husband, my pets, my community, my neighbourhood—that’s home,” she says with quiet certainty. “The UK doesn’t feel like home to me anymore.”
The Emotional Weight of Home
Silsbury has also been disturbed by how the British press portrays life in the UAE and those who choose to live there. “I just don’t understand it. The lack of empathy for people who have simply chosen to build their lives somewhere else is astounding. And the level of vitriol and hatred—it’s just beyond me. It makes me embarrassed,” she says.
Conversations with friends from conflict-affected countries like Ukraine and Lebanon gave her a more humbling perspective. They experience displacement and fear not as rare events, but as recurring realities. “Talking to them made me truly understand their lived experiences in a way I hadn’t before,” she reflected. “But we have the protection of the UAE.”
When her plane finally touched down, the relief she felt was pure and uncomplicated. “Walking into that airport, being greeted with smiles, it hit me all at once,” she said. “There is a real community in Dubai. Coming back to it, I was completely overwhelmed.”
