On Saturday, February 28, a friend of mine was transiting through Abu Dhabi via Etihad Airways en route home to Nairobi from a work related trip in Malaysia. As she relaxed and sipped on a much-needed cup of coffee, mentally preparing herself for a six-hour transit session, Operation Eric Fury was launched.
The United Arab Emirates was unwittingly dragged into a war and its entire airspace was closed immediately. My friend’s status changed from traveller to statistic, trapped in Abu Dhabi with tens of thousands of other travellers.
