'Near empty' flights arrive in Dubai as tens of thousands attempt to escape war zone

The UAE's economy is expected to fall six percent this year, similar to the period of the COVID shutdowns  

News Desk - The Cradle 

The UAE's flagship airline is operating flights to Dubai that are near-empty, while flights to leave the Emirates are full of expatriates and tourists seeking to escape, a development that highlights the severe economic fallout from the US-Israeli war on neighboring Iran.

“Flights from destinations in the US and continental Europe have been impacted the hardest, with planes returning from Prague or Budapest only about five percent to 10 percent occupied,” Bloomberg reported on 16 March, citing data compiled by the Dubai-based Emirates airline.

Flights from New York returned with only a fifth of the tickets sold. One flight departed with fewer than 35 passengers on a jet that normally seats close to 500. Flights from Chicago were also virtually empty.

One Emirates flight from Paris carried only 25 passengers, roughly the same number as the crew. The plane used for the flight, an Airbus A380, typically accommodates about 600 people, Bloomberg noted.

The US maintains an air base near Abu Dhabi in the UAE that has been used to stage attacks on Iran, making the Gulf country a target for Iran's military.

In contrast, flights leaving Dubai are completely booked, as tourists and western expats flee the Gulf state amid ongoing Iranian missile and drone attacks, including near the airport.

Flights were canceled on Monday after an Iranian drone struck a fuel storage depot at the Dubai airport.

On Saturday, Iran issued a statement saying the US had used ports and jetties in the UAE to attack its territory, including Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran's oil exports.

“We urge the Muslim people of the UAE to evacuate ports, jetties, and American shelters in the country's cities so that no one is harmed,” an Iranian government spokesperson said.

Iran's attacks on the UAE have affected the country's reputation as a safe haven, while damaging its oil, tourism, real estate, and aviation industries.

According to the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, the UAE's non-oil economy could contract by over six percent this year, more than the decline suffered from the 2020 pandemic lockdowns.

Losses in critical industries, including tourism, real estate, logistics, and manufacturing, could reach 10 percent, the bank projected.

“The shine has definitely been taken off,” said John Trudinger, a British schoolmaster who has lived in Dubai for 16 years. Most of the more than 100 British teachers he employs have been so “deeply traumatised and really struggling to cope” with the war that they have left and will not return.

If the war persists, many wealthy foreigners may permanently abandon the UAE, which has one of the world's highest concentrations of billionaires, due to the lack of tax on income, capital gains, and inheritance. 

The economic downturn and flight of the wealthy may also affect the employment of millions of poor migrant workers, primarily from South and Southeast Asia, on whom the UAE economy depends.