The UAE sent alerts to their phones every time a missile attack was underway

A group of 11 Brits were on the runway ready to fly home on a BA flight from Dubai when war broke out in the Middle East. Mark and Zoe Ruffels were in a party with their children Harrisen (c), 22, and Freya, 20, when they were asked to go back to the terminal.

After a week in a Airbnb with friends Grainne and James Pryor, they had to find a hotel for a party with an age range from 20 to almost 80. As the Middle East conflict began, so did their nightmare, trapped in a war zone.

They were forced to stay for another nine days and remain indoors in conditions like “lockdown but with missiles”. It cost another £15,000 before they were able to embark on an epic eight hour journey across the desert to Muscat in Oman.

Finally, they got home on a 2.30am flight on Monday. Zoe, 53, a market researcher of Camberley, Surrey, organised the trip and spent £560 each on the British Airways flights for the party.

But she told how she had to go through apps and social media to get updates when their return flights home after four were cancelled.

She said: "We would not book any new flights with BA. The lesson we learned was to fly with the national carrier if you come to Dubai. It has been a pretty horrific experience."

The group wanted to thank the UAE Government for 'keeping them safe'. The Pryors, of Curridge, Berkshire were with them by the hotel rooftop pool as the Iranian missiles lit up the skies above them.

On the first night of the conflict, they had to evacuate to an underground car park. The UAE sent alerts to their phones every time a missile attack was underway. The group tried on four separate occasions to book to return BA flight to the UK; on each occasion, they were cancelled.

In the end, they had to fly back via Oman, after a 300-mile, eight-hour taxi ride across the desert, with a £1500 bill for two minibuses. They then waited nine hours to depart for the early morning flight, but it was worth it. At Muscat airport, Mark, 57, a global trade director, told the Mirror: "We were having a fabulous holiday until the day we were due to return.

"When we got to the airport and got on the plane, we were actually on the runway, thinking we were going home. But the plane captain said: 'We need to go back to the terminal'. We had not had any missiles at that point or anything to cause us concern.

"But we found ourselves standing in the terminal thinking: 'Where are we going next?'" The answer was a Marriott Hotel, near to the airport, where they booked six rooms for three days. Next day they were by a rooftop pool, when the Iranian missile strikes could be seen over Dubai.

They had to evacuate into the downstairs car park, where they found mattresses, water, and food brought to them by the hotel staff.

Grainne said, staying indoors all the time was like the Covid lockdown all over again.... but with missiles. Her husband, James, 57, an IT consultant, added: "When we got to that terminal, there was no support from British Airways, and that set the tone for the week.

"There was no one there. That was one of the most disappointing things from our point of view.

"It was scary seeing the missiles in the sky, one of the children, Freya, was the first to spot. them.

"We'd had a wonderful week in Dubai, but then you think: 'what's happening to us?'

Zoe added: "It is even more frightening when you have children, and elderly people in your party. You are thinking all the time what is the best thing to do for them.

"We had no assistance from being here and none from the British embassy. We constantly had to get in touch with BA to find out what was going on."

The group are now safely back in the UK. But Zoe said: "It will take some time to process what has happened. We are all so glad to be back."

The party was made up of Harrisen and Freya Ruffels and their friends Sophie Norbury, 24 and Kian Antoni, 22; Mark's mum Audrey Ruffels, 79, and Zoe's parents Mick Goodchild, 79, and Gillian Goodchild, 77.

Audrey contacted her local MP Jeremy Hunt, while she was trapped in Dubai and he assisted with contacting BA.

British Airways said in a statement: “We remain unable to operate flights from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv. To help our customers, we have scheduled flights from Oman (Muscat) to London Heathrow for BA customers with an existing booking who are in Oman or the UAE. We are constantly reviewing the situation and will continue to do everything we can to support our customers and colleagues in the region and remain in regular contact with them.”