Grangemouth student and boyfriend flee Dubai via desert escape route devised by her worried mother

A Grangemouth mother has spoken of an emotional airport reunion after she planned an escape route through the desert to get her teenage daughter and boyfriend home from Dubai.

It comes as the first Scottish flight from the United Arab Emirates since the weekend is due to touch down at Edinburgh Airport on Wednesday night. The Emirates service from Dubai is expected around 7pm. Meanwhile, the airline’s Glasgow flights remain suspended.

Paige Mcginlay, 19, who is studying to be a PE teacher at Stirling University, had only been in her skyscraper hotel for a matter of hours when the United States and Israel began bombing nearby Iran on Saturday morning.

Student Paige Mcginlay and her boyfriend were supposed to be relaxing on a trip to Dubai | Contributed

Her worried mother Linsey Mcginlay had tried to persuade the couple not to go on the holiday as she became increasingly concerned about growing tensions in the region.

Ms Mcginlay said: "They landed in Dubai around 4.30am on Saturday. They slept for a few hours and when they woke it was already on the news about Iran being bombed.

She said at lunchtime her daughter “was on the phone in tears and said that a missile had flown over their hotel.”

Later in the day, dinner was delivered to their 26th floor room but within hours an emergency alert on their phones signalled that everyone should make their way to an underground shelter.

Ms Mcginlay said: “The lifts were all packed with people crying. But eventually they reached the shelter where they were given duvets by the staff.

"But I knew that I couldn’t let them stay there and had to get them out. I stayed up all night and eventually came up with a route for them to leave in the hope that they would get home quickly.”

She arranged for them to get a taxi to the Oman border where, once they had managed to get through, they were picked up by another taxi which took them on an almost four hour journey to Muscat airport in Oman.

From there they flew to King Abdulaziz International Airport near Jeddah in Saudi Arabia before boarding a flight to Manchester, where Ms Mcginlay and her husband Scott picked them up.

She said: "It was a very emotional reunion but we were so glad to get them back. I know it was a risk for them to make that journey but I’m so proud of both of them.

“It should have been a fabulous holiday which turned into a nightmare – but they are both safe.”

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Meanwhile, Falkirk businessman Stephen Barr’s dream birthday trip has left him and his wife Angela stranded in Abu Dhabi.

Stephen Barr, who owns Galaxy Sports Little Kerse,football leisure facilities in Grangemouth, was celebrating his 65th birthday when the bombing began.

Stephen and Angela Barr at the start of their holiday in Abu Dhabi | Contributed

He said a sightseeing trip to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque on Saturday was interrupted when they received emergency alerts to their mobile phones telling them to seek shelter immediately.

After several hours in lockdown, they were able to return to their hotel but since then have followed instructions to remain inside the building.

The couple were due to fly home on Tuesday but now expect to return on Saturday.

Mr Barr said: "We can’t go out. There’s been a few large explosions, they’ve had a go at the airport which is about 15km (9 miles) from where we are, which is a bit worrying.

“It’s not too close, but the explosions when they go off, they’re close enough. And lots of military aircraft in the air."