UK will charter flights from Oman to evacuate Britons from region amid Iran strikes | Oman
The UK government will charter a flight from Oman in the coming days and prioritize vulnerable British citizens in the region due to ongoing attacks by Iran, the foreign secretary said.
Yvette Cooper said the closure of airspace and the threat of attacks from Iran in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks meant the situation was “escalating rapidly”.
British Airways will also operate a separate flight from Oman early on Thursday to bring home some of its customers stranded in the Middle East.
The timing of the government’s charter flight has not yet been confirmed, but it will depart from Muscat “in the coming days,” Cooper said, adding that the government is working to increase the capacity of flights that can depart from Oman.
He said 130,000 British citizens had registered their assets with the Foreign Office, allowing them to receive updates as the situation developed.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Cooper said that the airspace was still closed, but many British citizens stranded in the Gulf countries, including the UAE, were receiving help from local governments.
“I am in close contact with my counterparts in the region, I spoke to the UAE again yesterday about the excellent support they have provided and some of the departures they have secured as this becomes feasible.” he said.
Cooper said the government was “working with airlines to increase capacity out of Muscat for British nationals” and that a charter flight would operate from Muscat in the coming days, prioritizing vulnerable nationals.
He said Britons in Oman would have to wait for the Foreign Office (FCDO) to get in touch. “This is a very fast-moving situation. We have an unprecedented number of British citizens in the region and I will continue to keep my members and affected British citizens informed as the situation develops,” he said.
Number 10 said the FCDO had received 2,700 calls from British nationals, half of whom were in the UAE. Citizens signed up to be informed from Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE.
British Airways does not normally operate direct flights from Muscat, but the holiday business sells packages to Oman and flies passengers via Doha on a partner airline. Some BA customers were also redirected to Oman due to the airspace closure on Saturday.
A spokesman said: “We are currently unable to operate flights from destinations such as Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv. We continue to do everything we can to support our customers and colleagues in the region and are in regular contact with them.”
The airline is not advising those in the UAE to travel to Muscat, which is about 300 miles (480 km) away by road. However, it was stated that BA customers currently in Oman should call a special phone line if they want to join the London flight, which will depart at 02.30 local time on March 5. The airline said that there will be scheduled flights on March 6 and 7.
Downing Street said the government remained in contact with commercial airlines and contingency plans were being worked on.
Large swathes of airspace in the wider region remain closed since the conflict began, and most scheduled flights to and from the Gulf have been suspended. But the UAE has partially opened its airspace for limited, urgent repatriation and cargo flights, including the first Etihad Airways flight carrying stranded British nationals to Heathrow airport on Monday.
International airports in the region have been targets of Iranian retaliatory attacks, including Dubai’s international airport. The three leading airlines operating at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha airports (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways) have approximately 90,000 passengers passing through these hubs daily.
Qatar airspace is completely closed and there are no takeoff or landing flights to Doha airport.
The UAE government on Tuesday said its air defenses had dealt with 186 missiles launched towards the country since the beginning of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
According to the Red Crescent, Israeli and US warplanes launched a new wave of attacks on Iran overnight and 787 people died.
