Virgin Atlantic has suspended services to Dubai after one aircraft ended up returning to the UK following a 16-hour round trip that never reached its destination.
Global travel has faced major disruption in recent days, with routes to, from, and across parts of the Middle East particularly affected amid the conflict in Iran.
For some passengers, the knock-on impact has meant being stuck abroad for extended periods, while others have scrambled to secure the limited number of repatriation options available.
According to The Independent, Virgin Atlantic flight VS400 departed London Heathrow at 10.22pm on Friday (March 6) bound for Dubai, but was forced to turn back while over Saudi Arabia after airspace restrictions were introduced.
The aircraft then diverted to Budapest for a 90-minute refuelling stop, before continuing on and arriving back at Heathrow after a further two hours in the air.
As a result, the journey became a so-called “flight to nowhere”, with passengers spending around 16 hours travelling without ever reaching Dubai.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “The safety and security of our customers and our people is always our top priority.
“We have strict criteria that must be met for a flight to continue into the region, and even though Dubai airport reopened shortly after its closure, our criteria for proceeding had not yet been met.
“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding and will contact affected customers.
“Our flights have been repatriating as many of our customers and people who were in Dubai and Riyadh as possible, and we will continue our remaining rotations if deemed safe to do so.”
The Independent also reports that Virgin Atlantic has now canceled all flights to and from Dubai for the winter, with the exception of one service scheduled for next week.
“Following airport and airspace closures in Dubai early this morning, we made the decision to cancel a number of our London Heathrow and Dubai rotations – the VS400 on Friday 6 March, VS401 on Saturday 7 March, VS400 on Saturday 7 March and VS401 Sunday 8 March,” a spokesperson explained.
“We continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East with ongoing dynamic assessments and active changes to our flight routings based on the latest information and guidance, where required.”
Meanwhile, as tensions across the region continue, US President Donald Trump has again criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his approach.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “The United Kingdom, our once great Ally, maybe the greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.
“That’s OK, prime minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer – But we will remember. We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won!”
This follows earlier remarks in which Trump said Starmer is ‘not Winston Churchill’, referencing the UK’s World War Two-era leader.