Israel-UAE Flight Standoff Leaves Thousands of Travelers Stranded in Dubai

Commercial air links between Israel and the United Arab Emirates have been disrupted since early October 2026, leaving thousands of Israeli travelers stranded in Dubai and unable to book return flights, according to reporting by The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post.

What happened

On September 30, 2026, flydubai flight FZ1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers, was disrupted when a co-pilot attacked the captain inside the cockpit with a crash axe after the pilot opened the cockpit door, according to Al Jazeera, which cited the UAE prosecutor general's description of the incident as an attempted 'terrorist act.' The aircraft descended roughly 17,000 feet before other crew members and passengers subdued the attacker, Al Jazeera reported. The captain, identified by Al Jazeera as Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, was wounded but the plane diverted safely to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities arrested the co-pilot and transferred him to the UAE, Al Jazeera reported, which identified him as an Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami. UAE Prosecutor General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said investigations would 'uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives,' according to Al Jazeera.

Following the incident, flydubai suspended all flights to and from Israel pending an investigation, extended by the carrier through at least October 31, according to The Times of Israel. Israeli carriers El Al, Arkia and Israir also had flights to the UAE cancelled in the immediate aftermath, per The New Arab.

Thousands left stranded

The New Arab reported that roughly 10,000 Israelis initially faced travel disruption because of the suspension. By around October 7, The Times of Israel reported that more than 7,415 Israeli passengers had made it home via special repatriation flights operated by Israeli carriers and via Etihad Airways, which kept operating between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and added extra flights to absorb demand.

The Times of Israel also reported that in September alone, more than 75,000 Israelis had flown with flydubai through Ben Gurion Airport, and that thousands more travelers were already booked for onward trips over the following 2.5 months, putting those itineraries at risk.

Why repatriation flights also stalled

Israel initially organized what it called 'rescue flights' using Israeli carriers to bring stranded citizens home, according to The Jerusalem Post and The New Arab. A source close to the UAE told The New Arab it objected to Israel's use of the term 'rescue flights,' saying: "Rescue flights is a term used for a country where it is dangerous to be. That is simply not the case." The same source said flydubai had offered Israel revised security arrangements similar to protocols already used by Etihad, but that Israeli authorities declined them — a claim The New Arab noted was unconfirmed.

The standoff escalated further on October 7, when the UAE revoked landing authorization it had previously granted to Israeli carrier Arkia, forcing the airline to cancel scheduled repatriation flights, according to The Jerusalem Post. Arkia said it had unsuccessfully tried to have the authorization restored and issued full refunds to affected passengers, offering a 10% discount on future Israel flights to those who reached alternative departure points, per the same report.

Current status

As of the most recent reports reviewed, no Israeli carrier or flydubai had resumed direct flights on the Israel-UAE route, with Etihad remaining the only airline flying it. flydubai's suspension of Tel Aviv flights is set to run through at least October 31, according to The Times of Israel, which quoted Ziontours Jerusalem CEO Mark Feldman saying of that deadline: "What happens on November 1 remains a mystery."