
Fearing that the war will be prolonged, the ultra-rich of Dubai have begun to leave the opulent business center by all possible means, sometimes paying hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Emirati city has been welcoming wealthy people for decades, who arrive in Dubai attracted by the few taxes paid there, the security and luxury it offers and a government inclined to facilitate business.
But these last days, with the sky fursowed by drones and missiles, there are those who are paying significant sums of money to guarantee a safe escape route. Somewhat complicated because the airspace of the United Arab Emirates is partially closed.
"When we saw the fire, we said to ourselves: 'okay, it's time to go,'" said Evrim, a Turkish woman, mother of two children, referring to the explosion caused by the remains of a missile that hit a luxury hotel near her house, in Palm Jumeirah, the artificial archipelago that has become a symbol of the city's ostentation.
She, her husband and her two children have paid $200,000 to fly from the neighboring Sultanate of Oman to Geneva, Switzerland, where they plan to wait until the war ends. To reach the Omani capital, Muscat, they had to drive six hours through the desert.
"We are very nervous (...), mainly because of the children. When they heard the sound of the explosion they got scared," he told AFP, alluding to missile interceptions.