Nonstop from CLT: desert safaris, mosques, new friends

A version of the following article appeared in the June 6, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

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On March 20, Etihad Airlines debuted its first direct flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to Zayed International Airport (AUH) in Abu Dhabi. It’s not only a new airline for CLT, but, at about 14 hours and more than 7,000 miles, it’s the longest flight ever operated out of the Charlotte airport. The flight launched amid conflict in the Middle East, which has dampened tourism in places like Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

But one Charlotte Ledger reader and Charlotte real estate agent, Kevin Johnson, decided to proceed with his trip as planned. He flew from CLT to AUH on May 11 and returned on May 20. Johnson bought a round-trip economy ticket on the new flight for $1,275 last July. We were curious, so Ashley Fahey, The Ledger’s managing editor, recently sat down with Johnson to talk about his experience flying on Etihad and what traveling to the United Arab Emirates was like, especially with the ongoing war.

The following excerpt is an edited version of Johnson’s account, told in his words.

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On the flight, I met seven college students going to the Maldives who were from the Carolinas. I met a family from Greensboro that drove down to Charlotte. They were Indian, and they were going to, he said, Bombay. I met a college student from Arizona State going to Chennai, India. He flew from Phoenix to Charlotte and was taking this flight and then another flight. Charlotte was his destination to go to the Middle East. Then I met a family from Charlotte that was going to India.

The plane going over there was probably 75% full. When I landed in Abu Dhabi, it appeared that 90% of them were connecting. There was a lot of traffic to Southeast Asia. India was the biggest destination.

I have not been on an international flight since 2018, and I have not flown since 2020.

It actually wasn’t bad. My longest flight was from LAX to Sydney, and that was over 15 hours. Dallas to Hong Kong was 14 hours. You just have to watch the movies. I probably slept about 30 minutes on the flight to Abu Dhabi.

I flew economy, and they gave us two meals. The food on Etihad is a little more elevated. Roast lamb, potatoes, blueberry cheesecake — and they give you real forks. I was like, “Oh, this is nice.”

When I got to Abu Dhabi, obviously, I was tired. I had a car already set up to take me to Dubai, which is an hour away.

This is the first thing I noticed about the country: It's super clean, and I want that emphasized. I've been to 22 countries outside the U.S. I've never been to one so clean.

It’s in the upper 90s. It's dry heat. I would describe it as West Texas or Phoenix type of heat. And when I was there, it was only mid-90s to about 100 degrees. This week, it’s going to be 110 to 125.

I started talking to the taxi driver, and I said, “Well, how has tourism been?”

“Oh, tourism is way down,” he said.

I did reconsider going [after the war in Iran began]. But I'll tell you what convinced me: In March, when Etihad started flying out of Charlotte and they flew that flight four times a week without problems every week, I said, well, they feel confident in getting people there and connecting people there.

I started following a lot of Gulf news, Emirates news, to see what was happening on the ground. In March, they had missile attacks and lots of drone attacks. They went way down during the ceasefire. But while I was there, they had six strong strikes. One landed by a transformer near a nuclear power plant. When I saw that, I was like, let me see where this nuclear power plant is, because it said it was in Abu Dhabi. It’s an emirate, it’s huge.

They mentioned the name of the town in the local media. So I looked for it, and it is literally about 150 miles from Abu Dhabi, the city.

One of the reasons why I wanted to go to the UAE is it’s one of the most exotic cultures that you can get to nonstop from Charlotte. Americans like to be pampered, and I'm telling you — you will be pampered. I couldn't even so much as unfurl my towel at the pool without somebody coming over.

I roll up to the Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City. I'm supposed to check in at 3. I'm there at about 1:45. Oh, believe me, I could check right in. “We got you a high floor.”

That hotel room had a king bed, a separate tub and shower, a bidet, two sinks. That's a standard room. I rebooked my hotels [after the Iran war began] and they were less money. But even when I booked the hotels originally, all these hotels were about $100 a night. The hotel I stayed at would easily be $300 a night in Charlotte.

I went to this place called Sky Views. It was a 700-foot-tall building. I was one of three tourists up there. There was a couple from Argentina, I think. I was the only American tourist I encountered in eight days.

Then I go to Dubai Mall. It's just humongous. I went to Krispy Kreme. I couldn't find it at first because it's got so many food courts. When I heard there was a Krispy Kreme there, I was like, I got to get a picture. I went with a chocolate-iced donut.

I go to the Burj Khalifa. It's made to accommodate hundreds of people at a time. I took the elevator up by myself. I get to the top — there's a few people up there. But their tourism has just tanked. It’s like Covid. I get up there and it's open air and the views are just stunning. It's almost surreal. I didn't go to the tippy top because they have a restaurant or something, but it was like 1,600 feet. It's the highest I've ever been.

I proceed to have my late lunch at Texas Roadhouse. I wanted a taste of America, and I've never seen one outside the country. The manager and the waitress both asked me, “How did you think this tasted compared to America?” And I said, and this is the truth, it tasted exactly the same, down to that butter that they use. And then they broke out into a line dance, the country music's blaring — and I'm a country music fan, so I felt at home.

The next day is when I go to the old part of the city called Al Fahidi. The houses, before air conditioning, used wind towers, which was very interesting. They would capture the breezes coming off the Arabian Gulf and it cools the house down. I went to the International Coffee Museum and got some Arabic coffee. I thought it tasted like very strong tea.

I took an abra — a traditional wooden boat that they used on the Dubai Creek — over to the Gold Souk, which is their gold market. I would describe it as an outdoor street that's wall-to-wall on both sides with jewelry stores. Very, very chaotic, compact. I take that little ferry back and then I get to the Dubai Metro, which is mainly above ground, and it's driverless.

That afternoon is the day that I went on – they call them – safaris. I had a driver pick me up, and then he picked up this couple. The husband’s name is Zain. He introduces himself to me: “I'm a Palestinian living in Israel.”

We drive 75 miles out from Dubai. He drove us to a racetrack, like a horse racetrack, but it's got camels.

Then we did dune bashing, which is in a four-wheel drive, in a Toyota Land Cruiser. We get up to the top of the sand dune, and then he goes, “Now we're going to slide down.” I had sand in my ear, in my mouth, all over me. It was really fast, and it was so steep walking back up the dune.

We rode around, bounced around some more, then they had a show and a dinner with traditional Arabic cuisine. I had chicken skewers and different beans and rice.

On the trip, I also had shakshouka, which is a poached egg dish. I also had ful medames. What it basically was to me was like a bigger bean with chopped up onions and things. So I ate that, and I ate Arabic bread, which I would call a flat pita. I'm not a big hummus eater, and they always had hummus. But the Arabic bread, I could eat a pile of that.

The next day, in the Dubai Marina district, I was standing on a beach and I saw 15 high rises under construction. The water is just beautiful. It's turquoise blue. The water was so warm.

Actually, if I go back — when I go back — I would like to stay in that Marina district. It's sort of like Miami meets the Middle East.

My new Arab cousin Zain, I had told him I was going to Abu Dhabi on Saturday. He goes, “Well, I want to go to the Grand Mosque.”

I said, “So do I.” I said, “If you rent a car, let me know and I'll split the cost.”

So he drives me there. We get to the Grand Mosque. I told Zain this is the first mosque I've ever been to. My new Arab cousin had on short shorts, so he had to buy the traditional dress. He had to be fitted.

Much to my surprise, there's an underground shopping mall that has McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, all these shops. Zain found out through talking in Arabic to somebody that they basically had all these people visiting this mosque, and there was no place to eat around there, so they developed this big thing. But it was just shocking to me that I go underground and I see these American brands.

I ate at McDonald's with Zain’s wife because he wanted to eat at Burger King. I had the McArabia. It was very good. It was basically two grilled chicken patties with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, maybe some onions, kind of a spicy aioli.

The mosque has very strict rules, and there's guards. It's beautiful, it’s all marble. We toured the mosque. We had a good time. Zain wants his picture everywhere.

Then he drove me to my hotel, the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, and we walked around. This is a little bit higher class than I normally stay in, but it was only like $100 a night. It's a 70-story building, 900 feet tall. I'm on the highest floor. Every time I went up and down the elevator, my ears popped. If I go to Singapore, I'm going to break up the trip and stay at this hotel.

The next day, I go to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and I go to the Zayed Museum. The Louvre is an architecturally stunning museum. So was the Zayed Museum. There was a garden between the two.

I went to the presidential palace. Nobody lives there. It’s 4 million sq. ft. I asked the guard — they have this humongous arch gate — I said, when is that open? Only for VIPs. They use that palace just to meet with foreign guests.

Would I go back [to Abu Dhabi and Dubai]? Absolutely. There's a lot more to do there. The service level is really high, and I didn't get to see everything I wanted to see. And I felt comfortable, even during a time when there was an active conflict.

The flight home was more crowded. Believe it or not, I met the seven kids who went to the Maldives on the flight back. I sat next to an Egyptian man who was visiting his son, who's a doctor in Dubai. He flew Etihad to visit his family, but he lives here in Charlotte.

What this flight has done, what it tells me, is when we’ve got people from Michigan and Arizona flying into Charlotte, this is fulfilling a need for a gateway from Charlotte to the Middle East. Now we're one stop to every city in India.

At the end, when Zain dropped me off, I gave him a dollar bill, and I said, “Return this dollar bill to me when you come see me in America.”

Ashley Fahey is managing editor for The Charlotte Ledger. Reach her at [email protected]. Special thanks to Ledger member Kevin Johnson for sharing his travel stories with us.