Crisis Post: Day 38

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Dh3.39 a litre. Here's what your Monday commute actually costs now.

April fuel prices landed last week as numbers on a screen. Today they land as numbers at the pump. Super 98 is Dh3.39 per litre, up 31% from March. Special 95 is Dh3.28. E-Plus 91 is Dh3.20. Diesel jumped to Dh4.69, a 72% increase from Dh2.72 in March.

The diesel number is the one that ripples furthest. School buses, delivery trucks, logistics fleets. That 72% increase does not stay at the pump. It shows up in everything that moves by road.

But the commuter story is already adapting. Khaleej Times reported on four residents in Al Tawoon, Sharjah, same building, offices spread across Business Bay, Al Quoz, and JLT. One car. Split the route. At 16km per litre fuel efficiency and Dh3.28 a litre for Special 95, the daily fuel bill works out to roughly Dh21 total. Split four ways, that is about Dh5 per person per day. Solo? The same Dh21. All yours.

Dh5 versus Dh21 for the same commute. That maths is not complicated. The people who sorted their carpool over the weekend are the ones not wincing at the pump this morning.

Metro and bus ridership is expected to spike. RTA has not released Monday numbers yet. That will be tomorrow's angle.

1  "September exams" are not September exams

Last week, all three UK exam boards cancelled May/June 2026 summer exams in the UAE. Cambridge, Pearson Edexcel, and AQA. The IB had already pulled the plug. Students will be graded on school-submitted portfolios of coursework, teacher assessments, and moderated predictions. Schools have until June 12 to compile and submit.

That is the current path. But every parent with a Year 11 kid heard "September" and assumed it meant exams in September. It does not. There is no September exam series for IGCSE or A Level. September 21 is the final entries deadline to register for the November 2026 sitting. The exams themselves happen in November.

For families weighing whether the teacher-assessed grade is enough, or whether a retake is worth the wait: that wait is seven months, not five. And universities are still being contacted by exam boards about accepting these alternative grades. No blanket policy yet.

2  Easter mass moved to laptops in Dubai, churches open in Sharjah

Churches across Dubai closed from Friday April 3 until further notice as a safety precaution. St. Mary's Catholic Church, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral. Hindu temples and Sikh gurudwaras too. Good Friday and Easter Sunday services were streamed online. Bishop Paolo Martinelli asked parishioners to "respect the temporary closure" and join via YouTube.

Sharjah and RAK churches stayed open. Full schedule, no closures. Khaleej Times reported Christian expats driving across emirate lines to attend Easter mass in person. For the Filipino community in Jebel Ali, for Indian Catholics in Bur Dubai, for Western families in the Marina, watching mass on a laptop is not the same thing. The families who drove to Sharjah this weekend paid Dh3.39 a litre to sit in church instead of a living room.

Dubai has one of the largest Christian expat populations in the Gulf. Easter is the biggest day on the calendar. The closures are safety-driven and temporary. But for the communities affected, the timing made it sting more than usual.

3  60 projectiles intercepted Saturday. A petrochemical plant went offline.

Saturday's intercept count: 9 ballistic missiles, 1 cruise missile, 50 drones from Iran. All intercepted. But the debris from those interceptions caused fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant in Abu Dhabi. Borouge suspended operations. Four people were injured at Khor Fakkan port from separate debris.

Cumulative totals since February 28: 507 ballistic missiles, 24 cruise missiles, 2,191 drones intercepted. 13 killed, more than 217 injured. The defense system continues to hold. The Borouge shutdown is a new variable. A petrochemical plant going offline means supply chain effects beyond oil, potentially touching plastics, packaging, and industrial feedstock.

Flights: Emirates and Flydubai operating roughly 220 flights per day out of DXB, about 80% of normal capacity. Emirates at ~80% of scheduled flights, Flydubai at ~40%. Twenty Emirates routes remain suspended, including Houston, Los Angeles, and Osaka. UAE cancellation rate sits at roughly 5.26%. Emirates flexible rebooking and refund policy extends through April 30. NCM warns of unstable weather through April 10, with scattered rain, fog, and winds up to 45km/h.

Day 38. First work week at new fuel prices. Carpools forming in Sharjah. Year 11 parents learning that September means registration, not exams. Easter mass watched on laptops in Dubai, attended in person in Sharjah. Sixty projectiles intercepted Saturday, a petrochemical plant shut down by debris. Week six continues to be two things at once.

Tomorrow: what Monday's commute actually cost. And what the UAE just told 10 million residents about their grocery bills.

Dubai Mornings provides general information only. Nothing here constitutes legal, financial, visa, or real estate advice. Verify all claims with official UAE sources before acting.

SOURCES

UAE Fuel Price Committee · Khaleej Times · Gulf News · ArabWheels · MyBayut · Cambridge International · Pearson · OxfordAQA · IB · edugravity.com · WhichSchoolAdvisor · Tes Magazine · The National · Arab News · Euronews · ARN News Centre · Construction Week Online · WAM · NCEMA · NCM · Emirates · Flydubai