The first government-chartered flight carrying British nationals from Oman back to the UK has departed, Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed, describing the evacuation as one of the biggest operations of its kind. The plane, originally scheduled to leave at 7pm on Wednesday, took off hours late due to issues with boarding passengers, according to Home Office minister Alex Norris.
More than 2,000 people arrived in the UK on Wednesday on eight flights from the United Arab Emirates, with a further ten flights expected from the UAE on Thursday. Starmer said the undertaking was 'many times bigger than the evacuation from Afghanistan' and pledged: 'We will not stop until our people are safe.'
However, the government faced criticism from MPs and stranded Britons. A passenger named Mark described the delay as a 'complete shambles', citing 'loads of issues with check-in' and 'no communication from the craft or the crew' while stuck on a transfer bus in Muscat. Foreign affairs committee chair Emily Thornberry passed on constituents' concerns about difficulty identifying British consular staff at the airport.
British Airways announced it would run an additional fourth daily flight from Muscat to London Heathrow, a route it does not usually serve, departing at 10.30pm on Saturday. Over 140,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East with the Foreign Office, a scale Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer described as 'a consular challenge not seen since Covid'.
Those qualifying to leave on government-organised flights are being asked to pay for seats, with the most vulnerable given priority. Falconer said commercial flights remain the most likely and rapid routes back to the UK, and that British nationals in Oman would be contacted as soon as further government flights become available.
