A handful of flights will bring stranded British nationals out of the Middle East on Tuesday, but the majority of departures from the region remain cancelled.
Emirates plans to operate two flights to Heathrow and one each to Gatwick and Manchester, at least some of which will be operated by the airline’s A380 jets, which can each carry up to 615 passengers.
Emirates usually operates 146 weekly flights to the UK, which is the equivalent of about 21 per day.
Some 15 Etihad Airways flights departed from Abu Dhabi in a three-hour window on Monday, which Flightradar24 said were “likely helping to clear transit passengers who have been stuck there since the start of the conflict”.
Flight EY67, carrying stranded UK nationals, departed from the United Arab Emirates capital and landed at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 at 7.17pm on Monday, according to flight tracking company Flightradar24.
Etihad Airways has one other scheduled UK flight on Tuesday, from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow, with a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, which has 336 passenger seats.
Qatar Airways – which usually serves Heathrow and Gatwick from Qatar – said on Tuesday morning that its operations remain suspended because of the closure of Qatari airspace.
British Airways cancelled its timetabled flights to Heathrow from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha and Dubai on Tuesday, while Virgin Atlantic axed a flight from Dubai to Heathrow.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper indicated that 102,000 British nationals had registered their presence in the region.
She said a total of about 300,000 British citizens were in Gulf countries targeted by Iran.
Sir Keir Starmer said the situation on the ground “may remain challenging for some time” but that the government was “looking at all options to support our people”.
He told the Commons: “We’re asking all British citizens in the region to register their presence so we can provide the best possible support and to monitor the Home Office travel advice, which is being regularly updated.
“Across much of the region, airspace remains closed, and local authorities are advising individuals to shelter in place.
“The situation on the ground may remain challenging for some time, so we’re sending rapid deployment teams to the region to support our British nationals on the ground.
“And we’re in close contact with the travel industry and governments in the region, including with our friends in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), given the concentration of British nationals in that country, and we’re looking at all options to support our people.
“We want to ensure that they can return home as swiftly and safely as possible.
“The FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) phone lines are open to provide consular support, and ministers are available to meet MPs to discuss any individual cases.”
The conflict between Iran and the US and its allies has caused widespread airspace closures in the Middle East, sparking major disruption to flights.
About half a million passengers per day use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, which are vital hubs for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia.
It is likely to take several days to clear the backlog of passengers.
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