Emirates resumes limited flights from UAE to South Africa

DL

Donald Lobelo

5 March 2026 | 19:00

DIRCO says the flights will be landing in Cape Town and Johannesburg from Dubai. 

Emirates resumes limited flights from UAE to South Africa

A plume of smoke rises from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on 1 March 2026. Picture: AFP

Emirates has resumed flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to South Africa on Thursday and Friday.
  
More than 6,400 citizens of our country are stranded due to the escalating conflict in the region, with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) urgently advising South Africans to evacuate through the limited flights. 

Governments have been scrambling to ‌arrange flights out of the Middle East for tens of thousands of citizens left stranded by the intensifying conflict, which has closed off most of the region's airspace due to the risk of missile attacks on planes. 

ALSO READ: SA Government urges citizens stranded in Middle East to contact embassies

DIRCO said the flights will be landing in Cape Town and Johannesburg from Dubai. 

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways said it has started to organise and operate a limited number of relief flights to assist passengers affected by the current conflict and temporary airspace closures across the region. 

The airline has urged passengers to only proceed to the airport once they have received official notification from Qatar Airways confirming their flight. 
 

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