A British property investor says he paid £150,000 to charter a private jet back to England after a military drone fell on his seven-bedroom villa in Dubai.
Samuel Leeds flew back to the UK on Wednesday after witnessing debris from an Iranian drone fall “like a hailstorm” on his beachfront property, while he was with his children in Palm Jumeirah on Saturday night.
However, Mr Leeds claimed he did not leave because of missiles fired during the ongoing US-Iran war, and expects to be back in the UAE within two weeks.
“That was the easy way out,” he told The Independent. “I didn’t leave because of the missiles. I’m hosting a business networking lunch with more than 1,000 people and there was no way I was going to miss it.”
Nevertheless, Mr Leeds described the incident at his home as “unnerving”.
“Me and my kids were at home. We heard an explosion and the debris started falling,” the father of four children aged between one and eight said.
“It was unnerving, especially with small children, to see missiles flying over your house.”
Mr Leeds, from Buckinghamshire, attracted criticism on social media after posting about his expensive escape on social media.
“If you have the money, leaving the UAE isn’t really an issue,” Mr Leeds said in a series of posts on X, along with pictures of him and his brother’s family onboard.
Like some of the other westerners caught up in the Middle Eastern conflict, Mr Leeds pushed back against what he described “false narratives” of Dubai being unsafe.
“People are not fleeing Dubai,” he insisted. “I offered free seats on the jet to my friends and no one was interested.”
“When people tell me in England, ‘You’re finally back from a war zone,’ I tell them Dubai is totally safe,” he continued.
“I have complete trust in the UAE government. They keep people’s best interests in mind. And I am grateful for the military that is defending the country.”
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More than 20,000 flights to or from the Middle East have been cancelled since Saturday due to the US-Israel joint military strike and Iran’s retaliatory attacks on America’s Gulf allies.
Thousands have remained stranded as Iranian strikes on Gulf targets continue, with Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines suspending scheduled flights until at least 6 March.
But the large population of ultra-wealthy residents in Dubai means demand for private jets to leave the country has soared.
Managing director of private jet charter firm LunaJets Dubai, Caroline Cresp, told The Independent that a 12- to 14-seat private jet from Dubai to Europe now costs more than €200,000 (£174,000), compared with €70,000-€80,000 (£61,000-69,000) before the conflict.
“Individual seats are being sold for about €25,000 (£21,000),” said Ms Cresp. “Even if people are willing to pay those steep prices, availability is scarce.”
“Capacity is extremely limited. In Dubai, limited slots are available per day,” she added, noting that departure slots from Dubai are difficult to obtain.
Lunajets has operated a dozen flights from Dubai to cities including Istanbul, Athens and Rome this week, she said, but there remains a waiting list.
The land border with Oman has meanwhile emerged as an unexpected escape route for travellers trying to leave the United Arab Emirates during the growing crisis.
The company said it has chartered commercial flights from Muscat to European destinations, with tickets priced at about €2,000 (£1,700) – a far more affordable option for stranded passengers.
“We operated multiple Airbus A320 & Boeing 737 charter flights carrying about 180 passengers each from Oman to Istanbul and Athens,” Ms Cresp said.
At the Khatm Al Shikla border crossing near Al Ain, where the two neighbouring Gulf countries share a long desert frontier, buses, taxis and private cars have been ferrying passengers across in the hope of catching flights from Muscat.
Natelea Strnadiva, a Czech citizen visiting Dubai with her parents, said she paid Dh2,500 (£500) for a taxi ride to the Al Ain border crossing.
“We are getting an Omani taxi from here for Dh 1600 (£320) to go to Muscat airport,” she said. “It’s a lot of money, but we have no choice.”
The family does not yet have confirmed tickets from Muscat. “We will figure that out later. We just want to get out of here,” Ms Strnadiva added.
Many travellers said the procedure at the border went smoothly and they were not even charged for a visa.
Travellers who managed to reach Muscat International Airport said the scenes there were chaotic as passengers rushed to secure seats on departing flights.
“There was a huge line even though I reached the airport at least three hours before my flight to Delhi,” said Ramesh, an Indian tourist who had travelled from Dubai.
Considering the swell in passengers, Oman said on Thursday it was working with international airlines to organise flights to help stranded Gulf passengers.
“The citizens of all countries have the human right to safety and security. People matter. Let’s stop the war now,” Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi wrote on X.
A British resident of Dubai for the past five years, who was also at the border on Wednesday, said he was taking his visiting parents out of the country to his vacation home in Phuket, Thailand.
“They will try to find a flight to England, and we’re planning to stay in Phuket for a month,” said the resident, who requested anonymity. “The attacks are continuing and we don’t know what the endgame is. So, we decided to get out for a while and wait it out.”
Another British resident who owns an apartment in Burj Khalifa said he had decided to return to England temporarily because of the escalating strikes.
“Burj Khalifa is such an iconic landmark and I’m worried it could become a target,” said the resident, who is a business owner and asked not to be identified. “I’ll decide about returning depending on how the conflict unfolds.”
The surge in passengers has also created an unexpected business for drivers at the border.
At an ADNOC petrol station near the crossing, Omani taxi drivers were waiting for customers heading to Muscat airport.
“I’ve been making a trip to the airport every day,” said Mfhood Alamri, an Omani citizen. He and his brother, Younus Alamri, said they had temporarily left their security jobs at a private company to ferry passengers across the border.
The siblings are charging Dh1,200 (£240) to Dh1,600 (£320) per passenger, nearly double the usual Dh800 (£160) fare.
“It’s quick money and we are helping people too,” Alamri said.
Luxury buses hired by companies with stranded staff in the UAE were also waiting at the border. Drivers said they charge about 50 Omani rials (£50) per seat to take passengers across to Muscat.
While some are crossing into Oman to catch flights from Muscat, others are taking an even longer road route from the UAE to Riyadh in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, where airspace remains open and more flights are operating.
Travel agents and drivers at the border said buses and private vehicles are now regularly ferrying passengers across the desert highways as thousands of residents and tourists look for any available route home.
