Foreign Office lifts Dubai 'do not travel' warning after US-Iran peace deal

Thousands of British holidaymakers stranded in the Middle East when the US-Iran war erupted in early 2026 finally received a lifeline on Thursday as the Foreign Office dropped its “do not travel” advice for Dubai. The decision follows a peace agreement between the US and Iran, but the government warned that “the situation remains unpredictable” and “attacks could resume at short notice”. The change means travellers to the United Arab Emirates will no longer risk invalidating their travel insurance, opening the door for the 1.4 million Brits who visited Dubai last year. However, airlines are proving slow to restart services. Virgin Atlantic suspended flights until winter 2027 after the war started, and a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that this “remains the case”. British Airways said earlier in June it would not resume flights to the UAE until October 2026. Emirates, the state-owned carrier, has continued operating throughout the conflict. Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the travel agents' industry group Abta, described the announcement as “the most important development for tourism to and through the Middle East in some time” and said the government “won’t have taken this decision lightly”. He added: “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 noted that the US and Iran “have announced a memorandum of understanding in relation to the conflict in the Middle East” but stressed that the situation remains fragile. It warned that before the 8 April ceasefire, Iran had stated its intention to target locations in the Gulf associated with the United States and Israel, including businesses, ports, hotels, roads, bridges, energy facilities and airports. The lifting of the advice is a significant step towards normalising travel to one of Britain’s favourite destinations, but with key airlines still grounded and the region on a knife-edge, the road to recovery is far from complete.