As the conflict quickly escalates, here’s what travellers in the Middle East and those considering a trip there need to know.
On 28 February, a coordinated US-Israeli military offensive deemed “Operation Epic Fury” struck Iran, killing the country’s ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since the initial strike, the conflict has rapidly expanded to affect a dozen countries – including drone attacks on the Royal Air Force (RAF) Base in Cyprus, an EU nation and all the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
There have also been attacks on airports and civilian areas, especially in the economic and tourist hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Doha in Qatar. The Dubai Airport, the busiest in the world for international travel, was damaged by drone debris in the counter-strikes, leading it to be closed for three days in a row, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. A projectile also hit the luxury Fairmont The Palm hotel in Dubai, causing a fire that was filmed and widely shared across social media.
“The retaliation, especially against areas like the UAE, surprised me and a lot of others,” said Dr John Rose, Chief Risk Advisor at corporate travel management firm ALTOUR. While it was widely expected that nations like Israel might be hit in retaliation, the UAE has largely been considered a safe place to travel in the region, with Dubai alone attracting nearly 20 million travellers in 2025. He notes that safety for travellers remains paramount for the region; noting that no airport will reopen if it’s under realistic threat.
US President Trump has said he expects the strikes to continue for several weeks. As the situation unfolds in real-time, many travellers are wondering if or when it will be safe to travel to the region. Countries around the world have issued increasingly escalating travel advisories – including a sweeping directive from the US State Department on social media site X for American nationals to “depart now” from 14 nations across the Middle East (including Egypt, which hasn’t been directly impacted in the strikes or the offensive) as the conflict escalates.
The situation on the ground in each country is nuanced, changing rapidly (sometimes by the hour), and travellers should assess their own risk profile and reasons for going. Here’s where things stand across the impacted countries at the time of publishing.
We will be updating this story as the situation changes.
Iran
All civilian travel to and from Iran is closed. Airspace shut immediately after strikes began and remains closed. The US, UK, Canada and Australia all have their highest-level advisories in place, and Canada has warned its ability to assist citizens is “extremely limited”. Overland border crossings into Turkey and Armenia remain open for those trying to leave.
United Arab Emirates
While Iranian strikes have hit both Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, the airports are both slowly starting to restart operations – with Etihad Airways resuming the first flights out of Abu Dhabi and Emirates resuming the first out of Dubai. Airlines are offering free rebooking for travellers, and the UAE government has said it will cover food and accommodation for the 20,200 travellers stuck in the country.
The US, UK, Canada and Australia are all advising against all but essential travel to the UAE right now, but Rose expects that could change quickly here since the nation is such an important economic and business hub, saying things could change or settle down as soon as this weekend.