The Foreign Office has scrapped its 'do not travel' advice for Dubai, opening the door for holidaymakers to the popular destination after the US and Iran reached a peace deal. But the government warned that 'the situation remains unpredictable' and 'attacks could resume at short notice', leaving a cloud over the region's recovery.
Thousands of Britons were stranded in the Middle East when the conflict erupted in early 2026, and many airlines have yet to restart services. Virgin Atlantic suspended flights until winter 2027 after the war started, and a spokesperson said on Thursday that this 'remains the case'. British Airways said earlier in June that it would not resume flights to the UAE until October 2026. Emirates, which is owned by the state, has still been operating flights to the region throughout the conflict.
“Foreign Office drops 'do not travel' advice for Dubai but warns situation remains unpredictable after US-Iran war ends.”
The lifting of the advice means people travelling to the UAE will no longer risk invalidating their travel insurance. More than 1.4 million Brits visited Dubai last year, making it a major holiday and business destination.
Mark Tanzer, the chief executive of Abta, an industry group for travel agents, said he expected a 'positive impact' on travel to the region. 'This is the most important development for tourism to and through the Middle East in some time, we know the government won't have taken this decision lightly,' he said. 'We know from our research that people have been delaying booking their summer holiday because they wanted to see what happened with the conflict in the Middle East, and that the government travel advice is an important factor in confidence to travel. While we're not out of the woods yet, hopefully this change will open up the market more broadly – there are some very competitively priced holidays for this summer, so if you're still to book, now is the time to do it.'
The Foreign Office advice said: 'The US and Iran have announced a memorandum of understanding in relation to the conflict in the Middle East. The situation remains unpredictable and attacks could resume at short notice.' It continued: 'Before the 8 April ceasefire, the Iranian regime had stated its intention to target locations in the Gulf associated with the United States and Israel. This included US or Israeli-linked organisations, businesses, facilities and institutions. Iran has previously targeted civilian infrastructure across the region such as ports, hotels, roads, bridges, energy facilities, oil production sites, water systems, and airports.'