05 March 2026
A UK optometrist who lives and works in Dubai has described couriering trial lenses to tourists stranded in hotels following travel disruption linked to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.
Following the outbreak of the conflict, Zach Cairns, a specialist optometrist and practice director of Cairns & Co, shared with OT that while business had largely continued as normal, he had helped to meet the eye care needs of visitors to Dubai affected by widespread travel disruption.
“We have had a few tourists stuck here who needed trial lens supplies and we couriered them out to hotels as needed,” he said.
On Monday (2 March), Cairns saw a full clinic of patients at Cairns & Co.
“There have been a few people that have said, ‘I want to update my glasses in case I can’t get contact lenses,’ which I thought was interesting – in terms of having glasses in their emergency kit,” he said.
Recalling the beginning of the conflict, Cairns noted that on Saturday (28 February) text messages were sent out by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government advising people to stay indoors where possible.
“I heard a lot of loud bangs, which are actually not the drones or missile explosions but the rockets that the UAE sends to intercept them,” he said.
Cairns shared that from his apartment in Al Barari he could see some of the interceptor rockets take off.
“You could see a puff of smoke. Most of the rockets were hit over sea rather than overland,” he said.
He added that there has been some panic-buying of bottled water and toilet paper within Dubai, although the supermarket close to his apartment is unaffected.
Cairns shared that the UAE government has offered to cover the cost of hotel stays for stranded travellers and residents have offered support to tourists.
“The expat community is generally quite good at looking out for each other and offering support where they can,” he said.
Postcard from… Dubai
Specialist optometrist, Zach Cairns, tells OT about establishing his own independent optometry practice within the United Arab Emirates
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