An Emirates plane landed at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday, marking the first time since a war in Iran began that a commercial flight from Dubai arrived in the Bay Area.
Family members and even a travel company waited at SFO’s international terminal for travelers to clear customs.
The Emirates flight from Dubai to San Francisco was more than 16 hours and days in the making.
Several travelers told NBC Bay Area they had tried to book earlier flights, only to see them get canceled.
One traveler said she was overseas for work and decided to spend a few days in Dubai, where she ended up trapped when bombs started falling.
“The bombing started and at that point we went back to the hotel and sheltering in place, locked down and doing what everyone told us to do,” said Susan Daley, a Chicago resident who was on the Emirates flight that landed at SFO. “And then we contacted our global security folks to see what we were going to do, how we were going to get out, which was just a matter of a lot of airline reservations.”
Travelers said when they arrived at the Dubai airport, it seemed busy as airlines were trying to get many people out.
Emirates announced a limited flight schedule that started Thursday.
The war in the Middle East is affecting your money, from the price at the pump to the roller-coaster ride for the markets, and economists say that will likely last awhile. Scott Budman reports.