'It's so good to be home' - passengers return from Middle East

"It's so good to be home."

The statement sums up how many people felt after their flight from Dubai arrived in Dublin on Wednesday night.

The Emirates flight, which had almost 400 passengers on board, was the first in a number of days after the United States-Israeli attacks on Iran led to the closure of nearly all airspace in the Middle East.

One of the passengers, Norita Geary, said: "Everyone clapped when the plane landed and we all cheered."

"It was unreal. I mean you see these things on television, you see them in movies but you just don't think you'll end up there yourself," the County Limerick woman added.

A second flight directly to Dublin from Dubai is scheduled for Thursday, with a further 400 passengers on it.

Rushali Lakhani said she is "very happy" and "very grateful" to be back.

"It was quite a stressful time but grateful and thanking our lucky stars really."

She said was "it was quite nerve wracking, we couldn't really sleep much".

"A lot of sleepless nights, a lot of bangs. There were no airplanes flying so whenever we heard some noises we knew that it wasn't good news."

Susan and Monica Miller from County Laois said they were in the airport "when it all kicked off", adding that was "the most traumatic part" as they spent hours queuing to get out of the airport.

"The local UAE fighter jets we could see them patrolling. We could hear some noises but because we were about 30 minutes west of the airport we weren't in any immediate zones that were frightening," Susan said.

She added that they are "thrilled" to be home and that "it is emotional".

"I think it is staycations for a little while."

Alex Anderson, who lives in Frankfurt in Germany was supposed to be transferring through Dubai to fly home from Malaysia, said his experience was "really difficult".

On his flight into Dubai he said he saw the missile trails but they didn't know what they were, so they were shocked when they landed and found out.

"It was a bit of chaos," Alex added.

He said it was "nerve-racking" hearing what was going on as he waited in the hotel and then there was the "frustration of getting the flights cancelled".

Mark O'Kane, who has been living in Dubai for 24 years but from County Londonderry, travelled to Dublin with his daughter on Wednesday evening.

"It would remind you a bit of the Troubles, you know, growing up you hear bombs. But life goes on.

"The only thing I can say is it felt safe, the defence systems in Dubai were fantastic."

Elizabeth was waiting for her partner Josh to arrive who was held up in Dubai since Saturday on the way home from a trip to Australia.

"It was really scary because it's been like a really mixed experience," she said.

"Some of it has just been the same challenges as like Covid and lockdown where you just have been separated and stuck in a hotel room.

"And the other side of it, so they had a warning when they first got in and had to shelter away from the windows."

Josh was staying in a hotel near the Burj Khalifa in the city.

She said the only time they went out of the hotel there was a "massive explosion" and then when "the second one came everyone just rushed back inside".

So far 25,000 Irish citizens in the region have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs - 2,000 of them have said they want to leave.

The Irish government has chartered a flight for Irish citizens from Muscat in Oman on Friday.

The Irish Embassy in the UAE thanked all those had registered but warned that registration is not an expression of interest in a flight.

Meanwhile, a flight chartered by the UK government which had been due to bring back some Britons stranded in the Middle East on Wednesday night has not yet taken off.

British citizens stuck in the Middle East have told the BBC there has been a lack of information about available routes to travel home.

The Foreign Office said two more chartered flights would depart by the end of the week.

Foreign Office officials said 138,000 British nationals in the Gulf had registered their presence, of whom 112,000 were in the UAE.