Nearly 20,000 French nationals have been repatriated from the Middle East since war erupted on 28 February, according to the government. Some 400,000 French citizens lived in or were visiting countries in the Gulf and Middle East when the United States and Israel launched their strikes on Iran.
Paris has helped 2,000 citizens return on specially chartered flights, while an additional 17,000 flew back on commercial services between the Middle East and France that resumed at the government's request, spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"This means that just under 20,000 people have returned to French soil at the time of speaking," she said.
France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said on Tuesday an additional nine chartered flights would be scheduled by the end of the week.
Another 30,000 seats on commercial flights departing from the Middle East this week will be available for French nationals seeking to return to France, Barrot told national broadcaster France 2.
Flights grounded
France's foreign ministry has deployed consular teams at Israel's borders with Egypt and Jordan to facilitate land exits so people can fly onward. It has also dispatched officials at the United Arab Emirates' borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, where airspace has remained open.
The war has closed much of the region's airspace and crippled Dubai and Doha airports, two of the world's busiest transit hubs. The closures have stranded tens of thousands of passengers and forced airlines to cancel about 40,000 flights, the biggest disruption to global travel since the Covid pandemic.
Air France has suspended several routes in the region. It has cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until 14 March and suspended those to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut until 15 March. The airline says it is reviewing the situation according to security risks and airspace restrictions.
KLM, Air France's Dutch partner, announced on Wednesday that it had cancelled all flights to and from Dubai until 28 March. The company added that it remained available to help the Dutch government repatriate stranded travellers.
(with newswires)
