26-06-2025
UAE athlete loses dream job, shot at championship title as flight disruptions continue
A UAE-based sportsman has shared how he lost a job interview and an opportunity to participate in a prestigious competition due to the airspace closures and flight cancellations in the region. The Eastern European Jiu Jitsu athlete is still awaiting a chance to fly home.
Elbek R. was supposed to fly to Azerbaijan earlier this month to attend a job interview and realise his goal of becoming a cabin crew. 'The interviews were happening in Baku, and I had booked my tickets in advance,' he told Khaleej Times. 'However, once the Iran-Israel war began, all the flights to Eastern Europe were cancelled. I hoped and prayed, but it wasn't meant to be. The airline completely refunded my ticket but I still lost the opportunity.'
Even though he was dejected at not being able to get a shot at clinching the job, Elbek said he believed it was for the best. 'It was a war and people were losing lives,' he said. 'It didn't feel right to be upset about not being able to attend a job interview. I have been wanting to be a cabin crew because it would give me the opportunity to travel the world and practice Jiu Jitsu in different countries. If God has willed for me to be a cabin crew, I will get a chance some other time.'
Starting Friday, June 13, UAE began cancelling flights to several destinations after war between Iran and Israel escalated. Most of the cancellations include flights heading to or arriving from countries like Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel.
Disappointed again
On Thursday, Elbek was planning to travel to Istanbul to attend a sport competition and booked a flight through Tashkent. However, once again, his plans were thwarted because of continuing flight cancellations despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
'I was planning to reach Tashkent on Thursday and then travel onwards to Istanbul to participate in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour,' he said. 'I reached the airport only to find that the flight was cancelled. I had completed all my preparation for the competition and was feeling very good about myself but what to do. Fate had other plans for me.'
Competing in the 77kg category in the Abu Dhabi AJP East Coast tour last month, the athlete pulled off three wins before narrowly losing out on the gold in the finals.
On Monday, Iran launched an attack on the American Al Udeid military base in Qatar, forcing several Gulf countries to briefly close their airspaces and causing widespread flight cancellations. In an open letter to its passengers, Qatar Airways group chief executive Engineer Badr Mohammed Al-Meer explained how the airline handled the disruption with over 90 of its planes in the air at the time. Several UAE residents and tourists are looking for alternate ways to reach their destinations as flights continue to face disruptions.
ER said that he would wait for a while before booking a flight home. 'I am going to continue training here and concentrating on my sport,' he said. 'I know that with all that has happened, it is going to take a few weeks for the flight schedules to be fixed. So I will plan a trip back home once everything is settled.'
