Influencers' defiant return to Dubai

After Iran launched its first barrage of missiles at the United Arab Emirates, hundreds of British expats and tourists in Dubai scrambled to flee the glittering desert city. 

Social media footage showed holidaymakers running for cover as missiles and drones streaked across the night sky.

Meanwhile, desperate travellers flooded Dubai International Airport, praying they could secure a seat on the next available flight. 

But even as missiles continue to rain down, influencers and expats are eager to return to the city, with several content creators already documenting their journeys back to Dubai.

The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to the UAE as Iran continues to ramp up its attacks across the Gulf in retaliation for a major offensive by US and Israeli forces on February 28. 

The country's airspace was closed for several days following the attacks, grounding flights and leaving thousands of expats stranded.

Yet despite ongoing restrictions, influencers have wasted little time snapping up the first available seats back to Dubai. 

In recent days, TikTokers have shared videos of themselves boarding eerily empty planes bound for the UAE, boasting about having entire rows or cabins to themselves. 

One British influencer posted a travel vlog, which started with her excitedly saying, 'Fly back to Dubai with me', as she flashed her followers a smile. 

The content creator, who goes by the username @vicsxjx, says in the video: 'I was so happy to see the flight on the board,' before showing a separate clip of her boarding a deserted plane, as she films dozens of rows of empty seats. 

Another content creator shared a video of herself drinking a cocktail on board a plane with the caption: 'Everyone leaving Dubai now... me flying in.'

A separate video posted to TikTok shows influencer Jade Wilson making her way to the UAE.

As she shows desolate airport lounges and empty plane seats, she writes: 'Flying to Dubai right now... Totally empty... unsettling. I've never seen an empty Emirates flight.'

TikToker Carina Najia shared a video of her day travelling back to Dubai after explaining her original flight had been cancelled.

'I was feeling a little bit anxious that they would cancel my flight, but I'm so thankful that that was not the case,' she tells her followers as she films herself in an airport lounge tucking into a bowl of yoghurt before boarding her flight.

Another TikTok account filmed an empty jet, boasting: 'A whole plane just for me!'

Another social media user posted a video of himself on a plane, throwing a peace sign at the camera as he enjoys his journey on business class. 

It comes as several content creators living in Dubai have been accused of pumping out 'propaganda' to maintain the city's immaculate image. 

Influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers between them have responded to Iranian attacks by sharing images of Dubai leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum alongside the words: 'I know who protects us.'

The posts begin by asking 'are you scared?' before flashing up images of Al Maktoum waving to adoring crowds.

Sceptical social media users have responded by claiming the influencers are being paid by the UAE government, although several have spoken out to deny this.

Online content creators need a licence to operate in Dubai, and the government responded to the outbreak of war by threatening prison against anyone sharing information that 'results in inciting panic among people'.

The tough stance is believed to have encouraged self-censorship by influencers in the Gulf state, with earlier clips of Iranian drone and missile attacks now swamped by posts lauding the regime.

There appears to be a deliberate attempt to avoid mentioning the war, with content creators mirroring the sanitised language of the city's leadership.

In the first days of the conflict, the government cracked down on 'citizen journalists' reposting genuine footage of the first wave of attacks, which included a drone strike on the five-star Fairmont Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah.

The Dubai Media Office responded within a few hours by claiming that 'outdated images of past fire incidents' in Dubai were 'being spread to stoke fear among the city's residents'. 

Dubai has also launched a desperate public relations campaign, telling people the 'big booms' in the sky are 'the sound of us being safe' as the UAE air defence system takes action.  

Meanwhile, authorities in the UAE have charged 21 people with cyber crimes for circulating videos showing missiles and explosions.

This includes a Brit who filmed missiles passing overhead and immediately deleted the footage when asked.

Content creators posting 'misinformation' face jail time, and on Tuesday, police said those posting anything which contradicts public announcements, 'causing public panic', could face two years behind bars and a fine of £40,000.

But some British expats have said they will leave Dubai and never return as they fear for their lives while Iranian missiles continue to hit. 

'The shine has definitely been taken off,' John Trudinger, a British Dubai resident of 16 years, told The Guardian.

The headteacher employs more than 100 teachers from the UK at his Emirati school and claims most are so 'deeply traumatised and really struggling to cope' with the war that they have fled and will never return.

Taxi driver Zain Anwar saw his car destroyed in a missile attack and said his family are begging him to return home to Pakistan.

He said: 'I don’t want to be in Dubai any more, there is no business, we are earning nothing since this war, and I don’t see the tourism coming back.

'A lot of taxi drivers like me, we are thinking of going to a different country now. Everybody knows that Dubai is finished.'

Iran has continued to pound the city, sending 1,700 projectiles in two weeks, although 90 per cent have been destroyed by air defence systems.