Dubai’s super-rich pay megabucks to flee

• UAE airspace partially closed; commercial flights limited
• Wealthy residents paying up to $200,000 for private evacuation flights

DUBAI: Dubai’s super-rich have started fleeing the glitzy business hub by any means necessary, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to escape a regional war they fear has no end in sight.

The desert city in the United Arab Emirates has long welcomed the wealthy, who have been drawn to its low taxes, safety, luxury and business-friendly government.

But with that reputation on the line as Iranian missiles fly overhead, some are stumping up huge sums to secure a way out, with airspace in the UAE partially closed.

“When we saw the fire, we said OK, it’s time to go,” said Evrim, a mother of two from Turkiye, referring to a blaze that broke out after missile debris hit a luxury hotel near her home on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s archipelago of man-made islands that have come to represent the city’s ostentatiousness.

She, her husband and her two young children are paying $200,000 to fly out of neighbouring Oman bound for Geneva, where they plan to wait out the war. To reach Oman’s capital Muscat, they had to drive six hours through the desert.

“We were feeling really anxious… mainly because of the kids — when they heard that bang sound they were scared,” she told AFP, referring to missile interceptions overhead.

She felt it would only become harder to leave if the conflict dragged on, fearing that Saudi Arabia, which accounts for much of the region’s airspace, may join the war.

Dubai has built a reputation as a playground for the rich and famous, with the city home to the world’s tallest building, an enormous mall with an indoor ski slope, huge theme parks and luxury hotels.

But its status as a safe and secure hub in a volatile region is now under threat.

Targeted by more than 800 drones and 200 missiles since Saturday, with three people killed, the UAE is bearing the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory campaign across the Gulf against the US bases in the region. Airports and oil facilities are among the targets hit.

Several foreign governments, including Britain and Germany, are sending planes to Oman to evacuate their nationals, as a reduced number of commercial flights are operating out of UAE airports. But many of the wealthy are finding their own way out.

“Demand is definitely increasing,” said Glenn Phillips, PR and advertising manager for Air Charter Service, a broker that organises private jets worldwide.

Private jet operators are also reluctant to fly due to security concerns.

The Oman route was the most popular, Phillips added, but congestion at the border with the UAE meant people were waiting three or four hours to cross.

Available aircraft will become even more scarce if the war is prolonged, he said.

Mike D’Souza, operations coordinator at Indus Chauffeur in Dubai, said demand for private cars out of the UAE had spiked among wealthy individuals from Western nations.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026