March 9 (Reuters) – Commercial flights in parts of the Middle East have been grounded due to the escalating conflict following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, stranding foreign nationals and prompting governments to plan repatriations.
Below is what governments have said about repatriation plans:
AUSTRIA
Austria’s foreign ministry said it had helped 117 vulnerable citizens leave the UAE and Israel via neighbouring states and had planned a first charter flight from Muscat on March 4 for 170 people, while warning that land departures would be undertaken at travellers’ own risk.
BULGARIA
Three flights by GullivAir, Bulgaria Air and the State Aviation Operator planned to return Bulgarian citizens from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman on March 4 and March 5, including a 326‑seat GullivAir flight from Dubai, a Bulgaria Air Boeing 737 rotation via Oman, and a 90‑seat government aircraft from Abu Dhabi.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Around 1,400 people have arrived in the Czech Republic through repatriation flights, Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said on Sunday.
ESTONIA
Estonia’s foreign ministry on March 4 said it had organised a 180-seat flight from Muscat the following day, available to its citizens in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
EUROPEAN UNION
The European Commission has said it is coordinating repatriation flights under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as more member states request help.
The EU has supported so far more than 42 flights, bringing over 4,100 Europeans safely back to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden, a statement from the European Commission said on March 9.
FINLAND
Finland planned a single repatriation flight with about 160 seats on March 8 for the roughly 3,000 Finnish citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry said.
Finnair said on March 6 that it was preparing to operate flights from Muscat, Oman to Helsinki to bring home customers who have been stranded in Dubai. The first flight is scheduled for March 10, with more flights planned later in the week.
FRANCE
The French foreign minister said several repatriation flights for French nationals, around 400,000 of whom are in the region, were planned from March 4.
France said it had deployed consular teams at Israel’s borders with Egypt and Jordan to facilitate land exits so people can fly onward, and has put in place a similar mechanism in the UAE at borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, where airspace has remained open.
GERMANY
Two flights with about 250 people were scheduled for March 5 and March 6 from the Gulf, after the first landed March 5 in Frankfurt, said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.
GREECE
Greek foreign ministry said it has repatriated hundreds of citizens from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jerusalem, Oman and the UAE during last week.
HUNGARY
87 people were repatriated on March 4 from Amman, Jordan, with another flight carrying 88 people planned for March 5, Hungary’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Another flight was scheduled for March 6 from Sharm-el Sheikh, Egypt. Hungary rented a Flydubai plane for March 5 and March 6 to repatriate Hungarians from Dubai. Hungary had two flights each on March 7 and March 8 leaving from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
ITALY
Italy’s foreign ministry said about 25,000 Italians have returned from the Middle East on commercial flights facilitated by the ministry.
It has expanded consular staffing in Oman and the UAE and is coordinating returns across multiple countries, with large groups moving from the UAE and others travelling by land through Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Italians in Oman, Israel, the Maldives and Thailand are also getting help.
NETHERLANDS
The Dutch government on Friday said it was preparing to use its military to repatriate its citizens from countries they cannot leave on their own. No details on specific countries and timing were given.
POLAND
The first group of Polish citizens evacuated by military airlift from the Middle East arrived in Poland on March 6, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said.
PORTUGAL
A charter TAP flight carrying 139 Portuguese citizens and eight foreigners landed in Lisbon on March 6, with Portugal’s foreign ministry planning further repatriations.
ROMANIA
Romania’s foreign ministry said on March 4 airline FlyDubai has scheduled two flights to Bucharest on March 4 and March 5. It had received more than 3,000 repatriation requests and had around 16,000 nationals registered in the region.
SERBIA
An Air Serbia flight from Sharm el-Sheikh landed in Belgrade early on March 4, carrying 67 passengers, all evacuated from Israel.
SINGAPORE
The government will deploy an air force A330 multi-role aircraft to support the assisted departure of Singaporeans from Riyadh on March 10, with a second flight from Saudi Arabia planned for March 12, the foreign affairs ministry said on Facebook.
SLOVAKIA
Slovakia’s government has carried out six repatriation flights with 248 passengers, including 189 Slovaks and the rest foreigners. The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that eight more evacuation flights were planned from Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia by the end of the week.
SLOVENIA
Slovenia organised four buses on March 3, escorted by police, to take Slovenian citizens and families with children from Dubai to Muscat airport in Oman, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The first flight for Slovenia was organised on March 3, with two more flights scheduled for March 4.
SPAIN
Spain has begun evacuating its citizens from the Middle East on March 3, with more than 175 Spaniards arriving on a flight from Abu Dhabi and further flights expected from the UAE via Istanbul, according to Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.
Spain was also reinforcing its embassies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain to provide support and facilitate further repatriations, Albares said.
SWEDEN
Sweden chartered a plane to repatriate on Saturday 180 stranded Swedes identified as vulnerable.
THAILAND
Thailand plans to evacuate its nationals from Iran by land to Turkey on March 7 and March 10, while others stranded in Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan are returning or will return once airspace reopens.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
The UAE civil aviation authority plans to begin operating “special flights” across the country’s airports to help some of the tens of thousands of passengers stranded in the region leave, state news agency WAM reported.
UNITED KINGDOM
British chartered flights left Oman on March 5 after technical delays on March 4, prioritising vulnerable UK nationals wanting to leave the region, the British Foreign Office said, after some 130,000 citizens registered their presence in the region.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, compiled by Mirko Miorelli, Dimitri Rhodes, Elviira Luoma in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham, Sharon Singleton, Milla Nissi-Prussak and Tomasz Janowski)
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