The first flight chartered by the UK government to evacuate British nationals stranded in the Middle East landed at London’s Stansted airport after departing Oman nearly a day late due to technical issues.
The flight finally departed late on Thursday night local time from Oman’s capital Muscat, almost 24 hours behind schedule, and landed at Stansted shortly before 1am on Friday.
The evacuation effort comes amid escalating regional tensions after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered retaliatory attacks, grounding or restricting flights across several Middle Eastern countries.
More than 140,000 British nationals in the Gulf registered with the UK government for assistance, with at least 4,000 already returning via commercial flights from the UAE.
The government said additional charter flights will follow, although officials acknowledged the scale of the evacuation and emphasised that commercial routes remain the quickest way for most people to return home.
Passengers at Stansted airport reported chaotic scenes and uncertainty during the evacuation process, while some struggled to secure seats or were unable to travel because their family members did not meet eligibility rules.
Amelia Reid and Samuel Sharp had travelled to Dubai for a short holiday but were caught up in the regional conflict. They spent a night sheltering in a hotel basement car park with about 100 others after emergency alerts warned of missile strikes.
The couple later drove from Dubai to the Oman border and took a coach to Muscat airport in hopes of securing a seat on the UK government’s evacuation flight.
“Didn’t get told if it was safe to go up or not, just went up for breakfast and I think we heard a massive bang after that, so it’s just on edge, on edge for four days,” Mr Sharp told PA.
Ms Reid, who uses a wheelchair, said: “We left Dubai yesterday lunchtime, went straight to the Oman border, and went on a coach all the way to Muscat airport in the hope we’d get on the government plane.”
Ms Reid was eventually reunited in the UK with her family and her dog, Penny.
Another unidentified passenger told the outlet that he, his wife and their young child drove 300 miles (482km) from Dubai to Oman, only to spend 36 hours waiting at the Muscat airport.
He said: “I think today was better, but the day before was very terrible.
“We took almost four hours for check-in. And then after that, we were told we can’t fly because pilot is on overtime, so we had to go back to the hotel.”
Another passenger, Fazal Chowdhury, however, said the government did its best. He has been living in Dubai for three years. “There was a bit of room for improvement because there were some technical issues with the flight, so we were in the airport for 20 hours, but I don't think there’s much to complain about.
“To be honest, they were all working really hard and they were all really sincere, the whole team there were really good.
“The ambassador came and explained what happened. She was really good. We’re all here now. It was a bit of a shambles on the night when we thought we were going to get on the flight and then we were sort of trapped on buses and had to go back.”
Earlier, a British passenger waiting to board the chartered flight from Oman described being in “total shambles” after the plane failed to depart as scheduled on Wednesday night.
The passenger, who wanted to stay anonymous, told Sky News: “[The] check-in process took about four hours due to technical issues. We then got taken to the plane on a bus but had to stay on it for about one-and-a-half hours.
“There are dozens and dozens of vulnerable people, young children and families.”
Travellers reportedly faced long delays due to technical problems during check-in, leaving many waiting for hours with little communication.
Etihad Airways announced on Friday it would be resuming a “limited commercial flight schedule” until 19 March, including flights to and from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow, Manchester and Dublin.
The US and Israel have continued to batter Iran with nationwide strikes, and in turn, Iran has kept up retaliatory strikes on Israel, US bases and across the region.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer insisted that the special relationship is “in operation right now” following repeated criticism from US president Donald Trump over the UK’s response to the conflict.
The prime minister said on Thursday that an additional four British Typhoon fighter jets are being deployed to Qatar to strengthen “defensive operations” in the region.
The Independent has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
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