A UK government-chartered flight sent to repatriate British nationals stranded in the Middle East has now departed after an earlier delay.
According to the BBC, the aircraft, which was scheduled to leave Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Wednesday, was initially grounded due to operational difficulties in boarding passengers within the allotted departure window.
Thousands of Britons remain in the region following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which triggered retaliatory attacks by Iran across the Middle East.
Providing an update on Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that the charter flight had successfully left Oman.
More than 130,000 British nationals in the region have registered with the government for travel updates. Sir Keir said over 4,000 people, including vulnerable individuals, had already returned to the UK on commercial flights from the United Arab Emirates. He added that seven further flights were due to depart the UAE on Thursday, with additional charter services planned in the coming days.
British Airways is also operating daily flights from Oman, and the government is working with international partners to expand the capacity and pace of the evacuation effort.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer described the situation as “a consular challenge on a scale not seen since Covid”, warning that there were no immediate solutions. He said Britons in Oman would be contacted once further government-organised flights from Muscat were confirmed, but noted that commercial routes remained the quickest and most viable option for most travellers.
Home Office minister Alex Norris explained that the initial delay was due to operational issues related to boarding procedures, which prevented departure within the permitted timeframe.
Those eligible for the government-chartered flights are required to pay for their seats. The Foreign Office has said priority would be given to the most vulnerable, with eligibility limited to British nationals, their spouses or partners, and children under 18.
The government has faced criticism from the opposition over its handling of the situation. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel described the repatriation effort as a major logistical undertaking and called for greater transparency from ministers. She questioned what additional steps were being taken to assist British nationals and criticised what she described as a lack of preparedness for the escalation of conflict in the region.
Foreign Office officials said 138,000 British nationals in the Gulf had registered their presence, of whom 112,000 were in the United Arab Emirates.
Following the missile strikes across the Middle East, airspace remains severely restricted, with flights completely or partially grounded over Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel.
A passenger on the flight, named Mark, messaged the BBC as it was about to take off. He’s travelling with his young family to London Stansted.
He described the “complete shambles” of Wednesday’s delayed flight – check-in took two hours, and they were stuck on a bus to the plane for another hour with “no communication from the craft or the crew”.
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