Federal figures show: Many of the Swiss stranded in the Middle East were able to leave on their own.
Mar 12, 2026, 6:41 a.mMar 12, 2026, 6:41 a.m
Stefan Bühler / ch media
Suddenly the Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar were no longer warm summer holiday paradises, but war zones. After the USA and Israel attacked Tehran on February 28, the mullahs struck back: They sent drones and missiles to their neighboring countries, such as Dubai and Qatar. The airspace over the crisis region was closed, the airlines stopped their flights – and thousands of travelers were stranded. Including numerous Swiss people.
Swiss and Edelweiss have organized two special flights. (symbol image) Image: keystone
The federal government couldn’t help them much. “Swiss nationals on site should follow the instructions of the local authorities,” was one of the pieces of advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) in the first days of the war. They should also register their trip using the federal government’s Travel Admin app and contact the EDA helpline if necessary. The law requires personal responsibility when traveling.
“The FDFA does not carry out organized departures; departures are carried out on your own responsibility and at your own expense.” This is what it still says on the EDA website. The federal government does not have any transport aircraft. The responsible authorities exchanged ideas with Swiss.
Several thousand have unsubscribed
Some of those stranded complained about what they said was a lack of support from home. The fact that the federal government had long since warned about the risk of war in the Middle East was sometimes overlooked. But as it now turns out, many Swiss people certainly knew how to help themselves. This is shown by current figures from the EDA.
Swiss embassy in Iran closed
The security risk has become too great: Switzerland has closed its embassy in Tehran, as the Foreign Ministry announced. The ambassador and five Swiss employees left Iran “by land and are now safe outside the country,” the statement says. As soon as the situation allows, the employees would return to Tehran. “In consultation with the affected countries, Switzerland continues to keep the communication channel between the USA and Iran open as part of its good offices,” said the FDFA. (mg)
These show that more than half of the Swiss tourists affected by the airspace closure have already been able to leave the crisis region. “The highest number of registered travelers on Travel Admin in countries in the affected region was reached on March 5, 2026 with around 5,200 people,” the FDFA said upon request. “As of today there are still around 2,000 people.”
It is quite possible that even more people have already left the country but have not deregistered from Travel Admin.
Travel app at its peak
The largest group, with around 1,100 registered Swiss, is still in the United Arab Emirates, followed by Oman (250) and Qatar (200). More than half of all those registered from Bahrain, Iran and Jordan are no longer registered in the system. The situation is different in Yemen and Iraq: there were no deregistrations there.
Most of the departures are likely to have taken place by plane. Several airlines are again offering reduced flights from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Europe. There were also two special flights from Swiss and Edelweiss. However, these two providers have temporarily suspended their flights to the Middle East. Those flights that leave the crisis area often require strong nerves at the moment: cancellations or long delays due to the war are likely.
The Travel Admin app itself experienced a real boost in demand. Since the end of February, 16,000 people have opened an account. A total of 140,000 user accounts are now registered there. (aargauerzeitung.ch)