A long-haul flight to Dubai, forced to turn back to its departure point due to a security scare in the Gulf city state, has led to the cancellation of all flights to the hub for the rest of the winter season by a major British carrier.
Virgin Atlantic flight VS400 departed London Heathrow just before 10:30 pm on 6 March, on what should have been a seven-hour trip to Dubai. But an hour before its arrival, while still in Saudi Arabian airspace, the Airbus A350 had to divert, due to the closure of Dubai International after a missile was reportedly intercepted in the destination airport’s vicinity.
The plane was forced to refuel in Budapest, where its passengers were subjected to another 90-minute wait, before it was able to return to the English capital. The incident affected not only those on board VS400 at the time, but also passengers waiting in Dubai in the expectation of a chance to leave the stricken region.
@merography4 #Passengers on board a Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow to Dubai finally returned to the UK after a 16-hour “flight to nowhere”. Thousands of people have been left #stranded at airports across the Middle East in the past week, after Iranian strikes targeted the Gulf states in response to a joint Israel-US bombing campaign. Flights were briefly suspended on Saturday morning and passengers were taken into tunnels at #Dubai #airport , which is normally the busiest global hub in the world, following fresh drone strikes in the United Arab Emirates (#uae ♬ Storm – Sheena.I
While Dubai’s closure was brief—with authorities there describing it as “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception,”— the impact on the Virgin flight was severe, more than doubling its time in the air. Virgin Atlantic explained: “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.”
The airline thanked its passengers for their understanding and pointed out that it had been working to bring those stranded in the region home. “Our flights have been repatriating as many of our customers and people who were in Dubai and Riyadh as possible,” it said, adding: “we will continue our remaining rotations if deemed safe to do so.”
🔴 Attaque de missiles iraniens en cours à Riyadh en Arabie Saoudite.
— air plus news (@airplusnews) March 7, 2026
Les vols vers l’aéroport de Riyadh se déroutent tous.
Le vol Virgin Atlantic en provenance de Londres se déroute au Caire selon le site de la compagnie. pic.twitter.com/8jsogOEjvv
However, the carrier later confirmed that it was accelerating the end of its winter Dubai operations. “Dubai is a seasonal route for Virgin Atlantic and was due to conclude on 28 March; however, the recent escalation in the Middle East has brought forward the end of our operation for this season. Flying to Riyadh is paused for the next two weeks and will continue to be assessed on an ongoing basis in line with the latest safety guidance,” a press release said.
Virgin Atlantic also sought to reassure its passengers and partners, saying: “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.”
