More than 100,000 British nationals are stranded across the Gulf, with regional airspace still closed to most flights amid ongoing Iranian missile and drone strikes. Downing Street confirmed on Monday that all options are being considered to bring them home safely, including commercial, charter and military flights, as well as bus evacuations overland to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
“The increasingly reckless strikes from the Iranian regime targeting Gulf allies, including strikes on bases, airports and on hotels, directly put British lives at risk,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “The safety and security of those British nationals remains this government’s top priority.” The spokesperson added that the government is “looking at all options” to get people back as quickly as possible.
The Foreign Office has set up round-the-clock consular support and deployed extra staff to work with the travel industry and regional governments. Of the estimated 200,000 Britons in the region, around half have registered their presence with the Foreign Office. A limited number of commercial flights were due to depart from Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Monday evening, but thousands remain in transit.
Land evacuations through Saudi Arabia or Turkey are being considered, though overland routes carry significant risks. The UAE government is currently covering hotel and meal costs for stranded travellers, but it remains unclear how long that will continue. The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Iran, Israel and Palestine, and against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
Sir Simon Fraser, former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, described any mass evacuation as “extraordinarily hard and complex” if commercial carriers remain grounded. The UK has previous experience of large-scale repatriations during the pandemic and after the collapses of Monarch and Thomas Cook, but the sheer number of Britons in the Gulf, and the dominance of regional airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, present unique challenges.
Emirates alone operates multiple daily A380 flights to the UK, each capable of carrying 500 passengers. In the past year, Dubai welcomed one million British tourists, the largest source of Western European visitors to the Gulf. Officials are hopeful that commercial services can resume soon, but with Iranian strikes expected to continue, the situation remains fluid.
