'There are a lot of explosions': Kiwi stuck in Dubai

Brent Impey is among the thousands of travellers stuck in Dubai, as its international airport enters the third day of a total shutdown. Despite ongoing conflict, Impey describes the atmosphere as ‘quite quiet’. 

"There are a lot of explosions that are going off, and you can see during daylight the puffs of smoke as the interceptors - the ground or the air defence - intercepts the explosions, the missiles coming in,” he told Rova News.

Impey said he has been kept in the loop since the airports closed.

"We know that there have been a couple of missiles or debris hit at places at the airport. So yes, we do know that at least for the next two days there’s no getting out.”

"These explosions are a long way away. You can hear aircraft but can't see them high in the sky," he added. 

Despite the uncertainty, Impey maintains he feels reasonably safe for the time being. 

"You're not feeling imminently fearful that something is going to explode in front of you or into the hotel or anything like that. It's concerning, but fearful is probably an overstatement."

Dubai has been targeted in retaliatory strikes by Iran, following the US and Israel launching Operation Epic Fury - which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

New Zealanders in the Middle East are being urged to follow the advice of local authorities, including any 'shelter in place' advisories.

SafeTravel says volatility in the region means that further changes to advice could happen at any time. 

“Closures or restrictions of airspace around the Middle East (including in Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates) have caused widespread travel disruption for many travellers. Over 3,500 flights have been cancelled since hostilities began”.