A few Swiss were able to travel home on Thursday.Image: keystone
March 6, 2026, 10:24 amMarch 6, 2026, 10:24 am
Thousands of Swiss people are still stuck in the Gulf region. After numerous flight cancellations due to the war against Iran, the first airlines from the crisis region are resuming flights to Zurich. An Etihad Airways flight is scheduled to land in Zurich for the first time on Friday evening. Swiss travelers now have these options.
These flights are planned in the next few days
Etihad Airways
After the numerous flight cancellations due to the Iran war, the airline Etihad Airways has a limited number of flights from this Friday from Abu Dhabi also announced for Europe. You will, among other things Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome and Zurich on the website of the airline based in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Passengers with existing bookings would be accommodated as quickly as possible.
For the route between Abu Dhabi and Zurich be one for now daily evening rotation planned, it was said on Friday at the operations center at Zurich Airport at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. This is flight EY 141, which lands in Zurich at 7:50 p.m. and returns at 9:20 p.m. A Boeing Dreamliner with over 200 passenger seats will be used.
This regulation also applies to Saturday. The airline normally serves the route three times a day with a wide-body aircraft and two smaller A321 aircraft. The other two flights were canceled.
Emirates
Also the airline Emirates partially resumed operations to Zurich. There was already a flight from Dubai to Zurich on Thursday evening, according to the airport. A plane stranded in Zurich had previously flown back to Dubai without passengers. In contrast, a Qatar Airways plane is still in Zurich.
Swiss
On Thursday, Swiss operated a special flight from Muscat to Zurich. Apart from this The Swiss airline is suspending Dubai flights until March 10th. Due to the ongoing tense situation in the Middle East, no Swiss aircraft will fly between Switzerland and Dubai until March 10th, the airline announced. However, the date has been pushed back several times in the past few days. It is therefore still uncertain whether Swiss flights will actually be able to take off from Dubai again from March 11th.
Passengers on the special Swiss flight landed:
Video: watson/Emanuella Kälin
Travelers must expect these costs
Economy class seats will only be available again on the Etihad Airways website from March 9th. The price amounts to around 1,800 Swiss francs for a flight from Abu Dhabi to Zurich. In the days before, there were still a few seats in business class – for an impressive 8,154 francs.
Most of the seats on Emirates are already fully booked for the next few days. The price for a flight from Dubai to Zurich is on Wednesday, March 11th 504 francs.
The airline informs on its website that customers who have booked a trip from February 28th to March 31st can rebook their flight. Alternatively, an application for a refund can be submitted.
In principle, those affected must cover the costs of the journey home themselves. According to the Swiss Abroad Act, there is “no legal right to consular protection,” the FDFA said on Wednesday. However, the federal government can support people who do not have the necessary financial resources to travel home with repayable, interest-free emergency loans. Those affected must first commit to repayment in writing.
EDA is reviewing further options
The FDFA advises against traveling by land from one Gulf state to the next. This puts you at risk of getting stuck somewhere else again.
However, the Foreign Ministry says it is “continuing to examine options to support Swiss nationals stuck in the region in leaving the country”. However, the principle of personal responsibility in accordance with the Swiss Abroad Act applies. According to this law, every person is responsible for preparing and carrying out a stay abroad. People who want to leave the region must “primarily take commercial flight connections into account,” according to the EDA.
For many Swiss people it is therefore a case of waiting.
(hkl, with material from the news agencies SDA and DPA)