DUBAI — Stranded passengers in the Gulf states are waiting for one thing: A phone call confirming their flight home will depart.

Even then, few celebrate until the plane has taken off and cleared Emirati airspace.

"There was just this eerie feeling on the plane. Everyone was just dead quiet. No one really spoke," said Zoe Jackson, who was on one of the first flights out of Dubai on Tuesday (March 3).

She said it was not until lunch that passengers finally began to relax, sensing the ordeal might be over.

Now safely home in Britain, Jackson said she received confirmation she could fly only hours before departure, when her hotel rang at 1am GST (5am SGT) to say she had to leave "now" if she wanted a seat.

Airports across the Gulf have begun operating at very reduced capacity as airlines and governments hurry to bring tens of thousands of stranded citizens and residents home amid the escalating US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Dubai, which normally handles more than 1,000 flights ​a day, and nearby Doha and Abu Dhabi sit at the crossroads of east‑west air travel, funnelling long-haul traffic between Europe and ⁠Asia through tightly scheduled connecting flights.

Many of the stranded passengers had expected to spend no more than a few hours on the ground and have been marooned — often without luggage —since Saturday.