The first charter flight taking British citizens back to the UK from the Middle East took off as the Prime Minister described the ongoing evacuation operation as one of the largest of its kind.
Keir Starmer announced that the delayed plane from Oman, originally due to depart at 7pm on Wednesday, had taken off minutes before he was due to address a Downing Street press conference.
The airlift of British citizens comes against the backdrop of continued US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with missiles and drones also raining down on other states in the region.
More than 2,000 people arrived in the UK on Wednesday aboard eight flights from the United Arab Emirates. A further 10 flights are expected from the United Arab Emirates to the United Kingdom on Thursday.
Starmer said Thursday: “I want to be very clear: This is a huge task. It is one of the largest operations of its kind, many times larger than the evacuation from Afghanistan. It will not happen overnight, but we will not stop until our people are safe.”
However, the UK government has continued to come under pressure from MPs, as well as British citizens in the Middle East, who have criticized the pace and scale of the evacuation effort.
One British person on board the charter flight from Muscat, the capital of Oman, included a passenger named Mark, who described the situation on Wednesday night as “complete chaos” involving “a ton of problems with check-in” and “no communication from the ship or crew” while he was stuck on a transfer bus.
In parliament, the Conservative leader pressed the government on how long it would take to get British citizens to safety, while prominent Labor MP and foreign affairs committee chair Emily Thornberry conveyed the concerns of constituents stuck at Muscat airport, who said they were having difficulty identifying British consular staff.
Meanwhile, British Airways has said it will operate a fourth daily flight from Muscat to London Heathrow, a route it does not normally fly, departing at 10.30pm on Saturday.
More than 140,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East with the Foreign Office, a minister from the department, Hamish Falconer, told Parliament. Bringing UK citizens home was “a huge exercise and ministers must be honest about all their actions”. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel told him so.
Falconer, a former diplomat with frontline experience of previous evacuations in other crises, described the situation as “a consular challenge on a scale not seen since Covid”, adding that there were “no instant solutions”.
British nationals in Oman will be contacted as soon as additional government-arranged flights from Muscat become available, he said, adding that commercial flights were the most likely and quickest routes back to the UK.
Some 138,000 British citizens in the Gulf – including more than 100,000 in the United Arab Emirates – have registered their presence with the Foreign Office. Those who qualify to travel on government flights are asked to pay for seats, while priority is given to the most vulnerable people.
The Middle East government’s first rescue flight, which failed to take off from Oman, was delayed due to problems “getting passengers on board”, Home Secretary Alex Norris said in an interview with LBC radio.
