The UK government will charter a flight from Oman in the coming days to evacuate British nationals stranded in the region, prioritising the most vulnerable, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced. The move comes amid continued strikes by Iran and the closure of airspace, which has left many travellers unable to return home.
Cooper told the Commons that the situation was “fast-moving” and that the government was working with airlines to increase capacity out of Muscat. She said 130,000 British nationals had registered with the Foreign Office, and 2,700 calls had been taken, half from the UAE. The time of the charter flight has yet to be confirmed.
British Airways will also operate a separate flight from Oman in the early hours of Thursday to bring home some of its own customers. The airline said it remained unable to operate flights from destinations including Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv, but was doing everything to support customers.
Most scheduled services to and from the Gulf remain cancelled until Thursday, though Virgin Atlantic planned to operate its overnight Heathrow-Dubai service on Tuesday night after a partial reopening of UAE airspace. The Irish government also announced it was chartering a flight from Oman to assist its citizens.
