Easter holidaymakers switching from Dubai to Spain as flights fill up

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Simon Browning,Transport reporterand

Jemma Crew,Business reporter

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British holidaymakers are rebooking Easter trips away from Dubai due to the war in neighbouring Iran, causing a spike in demand for “reassuring” destinations, travel firms have told the BBC.

There is mass disruption to passenger flights across the Middle East and warnings not to travel to large parts of the region or the United Arab Emirates.

This has sparked a sharp slowdown in holiday bookings there - as well as countries close to Iran, such as Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt, travel firms said.

Meanwhile, bookings are up in Portugal, Italy and Spain as well as the Caribbean, Mauritius and the US as some airports report flights filling up faster than last year.

On Tuesday, BA suspended some Middle East routes until June, “due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability”.

The airline said it had temporarily cancelled flights to Dubai, Bahrain, Tel Aviv and Amman in Jordan up to and including 31 May.

Cape Verde and the Caribbean

Travel industry experts are warning over the availability of flights and holidays as those whose trips were cancelled due to the war scramble to rebook and those yet to book head for the same destinations.

British travellers are looking for “reassuring alternatives to avoid travel through the Middle East”, said Neil Swanson, managing director of TUI UK and Ireland.

They are switching to “familiar, easy-to-reach” destinations, with Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cape Verde seeing higher demand, he added.

Swanson said there was also particularly strong demand for flights to the Caribbean, especially the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, and also Phuket, in Thailand, and India’s Goa.

‘In limbo’

Natalie Kimber

Natalie Kimber is booked to go to July this summer but wants to change destination

Natalie Kimber, 43, from Portsmouth, says she no longer feels comfortable travelling to Dubai in July for her holiday.

But as her flights are currently still due to run, she is unable to switch destination, and says she and her partner stand to lose £700 if they cancel, which she thinks is “ridiculous”.

"I’m not even asking for my money back – just to change to a different country.

“We will just have to wait to see if Emirates cancel our flights before being offered any options to cancel or transfer without a charge,” she told the BBC, adding that she has been left “in limbo”.

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Bookings to Portugal had risen by 42% over the two weeks to 13 March, according to Thomas Cook. This was the biggest upward shift out of the destinations it covers, followed by the Balearic Islands (40%) and the Canary Islands (16%).

Kuoni - which provides premium holidays - said over the last week, compared to last year, bookings were up a fifth for the Caribbean and 18% for Africa. They were up 16% for Europe, with a 55% rise in bookings for Italy.

Most of the UK package holiday providers and travel agents the BBC spoke to did not quantify the changes in demand they reported for different holiday locations.

However, TravelSupermarket shared data on online search interest, which it said shows a “clear surge” for European and Atlantic destinations and away from the Middle East.

Searches for the Dominican Republic, Antigua, Cape Verde and Italy’s Tuscany region have all more than doubled between March 1-11, compared with the 11 previous days, according to the figures.

Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt

Online package holiday provider On The Beach said it has experienced a significant slowdown in demand following the onset of conflict in the Middle East, particularly to destinations such as Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.

Jet2 boss Steve Heapy told Travel Weekly people weren’t booking trips to Cyprus and Turkey, and “cancellations are up”.

There are no warnings against travel to Greece but UK government advice is that terrorist attacks in Cyprus cannot be ruled out. It warned that “regional escalation poses significant security risks and has led to travel disruption”.

While the UK government advises against travel to some parts of Egypt and Turkey, this does not include the tourist hotspots. In Turkey the advice is not to travel within 10km of the border with Syria.

Gloria Guevara, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council, told the BBC “demand for Turkey remains high, although some tourists are understandably delaying travel there while waiting to see what happens in the Middle East”.

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Dame Irene Hays, the owner and chair of Hays Travel, told the BBC’s Today programme she was not surprised bookings have fallen.

She said the biggest losers have been destinations that require transfers in the Middle East such as the Maldives, India and Mauritius.

However, she added the industry had survived many challenges in recent decades, including from ash clouds and the Covid pandemic, and “people will always want to do” such locations. “I believe it will come back,” she said.

2026 still expected to be busy

Last year was the busiest ever for flights, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s latest aviation trends report, and many industry bodies expect 2026 to break those totals.

One transatlantic carrier said many of its flights to the US during the Easter period were close to full, with little capacity for late bookings or travellers looking to switch.

The Manchester Airport Group, which operates East Midlands, Stansted and Manchester Airports, said flights were running much fuller than they were a year ago.

A spokesperson said the capacity of flights has risen from about 80% to almost 90%, meaning there was limited scope to pivot away from the Middle East.

Passenger numbers are expected to be up by 10–20% compared with last year with Dublin, Barcelona, Paris, Alicante and Copenhagen all seeing big rises, they added.

However, there has been a dramatic surge in oil and jet fuel prices in the wake of the US and Israeli air strikes on Iran, and Qantas, Air New Zealand and Thai Airways are among the airlines who have confirmed they will increase fares in response to rising prices.

British Airways owner IAG says it had bought fuel in advance to protect it from any short-term fare increases in the next few months.

But while the conflict is a “concern for many”, affordability is holidaymakers’ priority, says Seamus McCauley, head of public affairs at Holiday Extras.

“As a result, we expect holidaymakers will head to places where they can get more for their money and experience warm weather in locations far from these tensions,” he says.

Additional reporting by Faarea Masud.

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