Airlines have resumed more flights to the Middle East to bring back some of the thousands of Britons who are stranded in the region, but the Government has warned repatriation won’t ‘happen overnight’.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told a press conference on Thursday afternoon (5 March) that 4,000 Britons have returned home over the past few days, but said the number who have registered their presence with the UK Government and have asked for assistance now stands at 140,000.
Sir Keir said: “We are working as fast as possible to get our people out. Despite airspace closures we are working around the clock with airlines, travel companies and governments to open safe routes home.”
He said seven commercial flights left the UK for the UAE on Thursday, adding: “We will lay on additional charter flights in the coming days. We will keep working with all of our partners to increase the speed and capacity of this airlift.”
He added: “I want to be very clear: This is a huge undertaking. It’s not going to happen overnight. But I will not stop until our people are safe.”
The first repatriation flight chartered by the Government arrived at Stansted Airport early this morning after its original departure time was delayed. Sir Keir said more repatriation flights are being planned and British Airways is putting on daily flights from Oman.
British Airways has confirmed that it is still unable to operate flights from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv but has scheduled further flights from Oman (Muscat) to Heathrow departing at 02:30 local time on 9, 10, 11 and 12 March.
The airline said these flights are for BA customers who are in Oman or the UAE with an existing booking. The carrier is contacting its customers directly via email.
BA has cancelled its BA107/106 Dubai flight until 14 March and is currently running a reduced schedule to Larnaca. It has also actioned a flexible customer booking policy which allows all customers due to travel between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv in the coming days the option to change their flights on the same route for free or get a refund.
The airline said that customers due to travel between London and Riyadh or Larnaca can change their flights to a new date on the same route
Gulf carriers are now starting to resume some flights, although they warn short-notice changes are likely and passengers are being told not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking.
Emirates has introduced a reduce flight schedule from Dubai, including to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester and Dublin as well as to European airports, as well as flights to Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The airline said it is prioritising customers with earlier bookings and said transit passengers ‘will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating’.
Etihad Airways is operating some flights from today (6 March) to 19 March, including to Heathrow, Manchester and Dublin, although it said not all destinations will be operated every day.
“Etihad continues to monitor the situation closely and will only operate flights once all safety criteria are met,” it said.
Virgin Atlantic restarted flights between Heathrow and Riyadh and Dubai earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Norse Atlantic will operate two additional flights between Gatwick and Bangkok next week to bring customers back to the UK.
The first flight will leave Gatwick at 12:25 on 9 March, returning at 09:50 from Bangkok on 10 March. The second flight will leave Gatwick at 08:50 on 11 March, returning at 05:25 12 March.
The flights will be operated on Norse Atlantic Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, offering both Economy and Biz Premium cabins.
