UAE residents, tourists stranded as flights cancelled; some travel 18 hours to reach Dubai

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For Dubai resident Sophie Davis, a trip to the South Korean city of Seoul has been a dream ever since she began enjoying Korean dramas and music. During the Eid Al Fitr holidays, her much-awaited dream came true when she jetted off to Seoul from Dubai for an 8-day holiday along with 24 of her friends and family members.

However, her dream trip quickly spiralled into a nightmare when her return flight to Dubai on Friday afternoon (April 19) was cancelled. “My husband is a doctor, and he already had a full calendar of appointments after the long Eid break,” she said, speaking to Khaleej Times. “We wanted to get back to Dubai as soon as possible.”

The rebooking process was extremely complicated as she was part of a big group. “Our agency was trying to rebook everyone in the same flight, and it was logistical chaos,” she said. “We spent hours at the airline counter, but it soon became clear that it would be at least four days before we could get a flight back home.”