A determined UAE resident has told how he completed an epic 28-hour journey by air and road to return to the Emirates, as Iranian air strikes cause widespread travel disruption across the region.
Australian citizen Rowan Beard eventually reached his Abu Dhabi home on Tuesday evening after flying from Indonesia on Monday afternoon.
He took an Oman Air flight from Jakarta to Muscat, followed by a 12-hour bus and taxi journey.
The UAE closed its airspace on February 28 after the onset of a barrage of Iranian missile and drone attacks across the country.
Limited commercial flights operated from the UAE on Monday to support stranded passengers, even as airlines warned that only some “repositioning, cargo and repatriation flights” were available.
Getting back home to his wife was a priority for Mr Beard, who has been living in the Emirates for four years.
'Our second home'
“I needed to get back to my wife who is shook up, I need to be there for her,” said Mr Beard, 38, who runs a travel company. “UAE is our second home and I know that despite what is going on, everything will be OK.
“Also, me returning to the UAE lets other people know it's OK. It's not as scary as you might read online. I’m happy to come back. I have full trust in the government. They are restoring confidence in people, they’re doing their best to protect their citizens and residents. We [the UAE] have sophisticated military hardware, more so than other places in the world, so I'm not worried.”
Road route
The UAE government has said it maintains a “robust” stockpile of munitions to carry out sustained interceptions. Defence forces have tried to fend off nearly 200 Iranian ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles and more than 800 drones that have killed three people and injured 68 since the attacks began three days ago.
Thousands of UAE residents overseas, working or on holiday, are checking various routes to return home. Most have returned by road from Oman and people need to show their passports and Emirates identity cards at the border crossing.
“I did some research and found Oman Air was still operating and that there was a daily bus running from Muscat to Abu Dhabi,” said Mr Beard. “It’s a 10-hour journey minimum but it was a definite way to get back home.
“I know bus is not the most popular means of transport but for now it was the way to get back to the UAE securely. There were only a handful of people on the flight from Jakarta to Oman and the bus back was less than half full. There were many different nationalities on the bus, [people] from Russia, Portugal, India and Pakistan.”
Unprecedented situation
Hundreds of others have flights booked this week but many flights have been postponed as airlines cite safety as the “absolute priority” before services can resume.
British TV producer Reza Kalamadeen, 53, landed in Barcelona last week on business and was due to return to Dubai on March 1. His flight to Dubai was cancelled but he hopes to return on Wednesday.
“This is not a situation which the UAE is in complete control of, it's something unprecedented,” he said. “It feels similar to what happened during the pandemic and the way the UAE handled that was amazing, it was one of the reasons that I really respect the country.”
Even when working in Spain, his mind was preoccupied with the air strikes on the UAE. He hopes to return to his cat in his Jumeirah Beach Residence apartment as soon as possible.
“My mind was very distracted because of what was happening,” said Mr Kalamadeen, who has lived in the UAE for seven years.
Emirates airline covered the cost of passengers heading to Dubai and checked them into in a hotel in Calafell, a coastal village about 50km from Barcelona.
“There was a massive event in Barcelona so all hotels were booked. There was a whole load of passengers transiting in Dubai so Emirates put us all up in the same hotel,” he said. “I have a cat that's probably missing me quite a lot, so now I just want to get home.”
Test for the family
Anubha Srivastava sees the terrifying days and nights consoling her children as Iranian missiles were intercepted by UAE’s defence systems as a “test” for the family as they wait for her husband to return.
On a business project in Conakry, in Guinea, West Africa, he was due to return next week.
“After the strikes, we want him to get back home as soon as possible. It has been unbelievable and scary for the children to hear the loud bangs, feel huge glass windows tremble,” said Ms Srivastava, 44.
After staying with a friend for two nights, she decided to move with her children, aged nine and 16, back to their own home in Silicon Oasis on Monday.
“It was a huge relief and support to stay with friends, who really took care of us,” said Ms Srivastava, who has lived in the UAE since 2006.
“I feel it’s a test for us. I made a decision that we should go home. We trust the UAE. We have seen how they handled Covid, the floods [in April 2024].
“I feel we are in safe hands. We need to take care of our mental health and protect our children who are scared by the sounds. We will get over this. We have faith in the UAE. This is a lesson that we have to be tough, we need to be strong.”
Her family in India is constantly in touch in a bid to keep their spirits up. “I’m not in a state of panic,” she said. “I’ve told my family we have electricity, we are getting deliveries, we have access to the internet. It’s a time for our bonds as a family to strengthen, as we see through this time.”
