UK and France to begin repatriation flights from Middle East

As Iran’s retaliatory strikes have disrupted air travel across the Middle East, the UK, US and France have begun organising repatriation flights for citizens stranded in the region. (EPA Images pic)
LONDON: A British chartered flight will leave Oman on Wednesday evening, prioritising vulnerable UK nationals who want to leave the region after the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, the British Foreign Office said.
British Airways, which is currently unable to fly from Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv, said it would also operate a flight from Oman in the early hours of Thursday local time.
Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have been stranded in the Gulf states since Iran responded to US and Israeli strikes by attacking its neighbours. Those stuck in the region are on holiday, in transit or permanently based there.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament on Tuesday she was in close contact with her counterparts in the Gulf and said Britain was working with airlines on increasing capacity out of Muscat, Oman.
The government said some 130,000 British citizens have registered their presence in the region.
The Foreign Office said the chartered flight would depart from Muscat at 1900 GMT on Wednesday. It said it would be open to British nationals and their spouses or partners and children, but would prioritise the most vulnerable first.
“British nationals should not make their way to the Muscat International Airport unless they are called,” it said.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said several repatriation flights for French nationals in the Middle East were planned for Wednesday.
“One will depart from the United Arab Emirates, another from Egypt to repatriate vulnerable ones from Israel,” Barrot told France 2 TV.
Barrot declined to say how many people would be on the flights. Around 400,000 French nationals are in the region.
Barrot also confirmed that French Rafale fighter jets had taken out Iranian drones targeting the UAE as part of Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries following US and Israeli attacks.
“We have already responded to the request from our partners, particularly the United Arab Emirates, with military capabilities that we were able to provide them. All of this with a simple objective that is strictly defensive: to enable our partners to defend themselves against this aggression that they did not provoke,” he said.