Britain's first chartered repatriation flight from Oman has been rescheduled following a series of technical and operational issues, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday. The government had chartered a flight from Muscat to London which was due to leave on Wednesday evening.
Authorities said that the aircraft could not depart on time, but officials said it's expected to leave later in the day on Thursday for British nationals and their spouses or partners and children, with the most vulnerable people having priority.
Speaking to Sky News, Alex Norris, a minister in the interior ministry, said there were also delays in getting passengers on board as part of the operational challenges.
Earlier, Britain's Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper had spoken with the head of Emirates and was due to speak with British Airways later on Wednesday about flight plans out of Dubai, as Britain leans on commercial airlines to help bring its citizens home.
Oman has emerged as a primary extraction hub in the Middle East due to the widespread airspace closures and security threats which have severely disrupted major transit centres such as Dubai and Doha.
Hundreds of thousands of people remain stranded across the Gulf states after military strikes involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran which began at the weekend.
The British government estimates that approximately 300,000 of its citizens are currently in the region. This figure includes individuals who are permanently based in the Gulf, tourists on holiday, and passengers caught in transit during the sudden airspace closures.
Commercial airlines are also struggling to maintain schedules amid the regional security crisis. British Airways announced it is currently unable to operate flights from major airports, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Amman, and Tel Aviv. To assist with the departure of stranded citizens, the airline is running alternative flights out of Muscat on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, though these routes are already fully booked according to officials.
Some marooned tourists and expatriates have also tried to make their own way out.
"We're doing this cautiously," said French Finance Minister Roland Lescure. The French government said several repatriation flights were planned for Wednesday for its citizens, around 400,000 of whom are in the region.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had authorised the use of military aircraft to support the evacuation of Polish citizens from the Middle East.
Italy's foreign ministry said it had deployed additional staff to Oman and the United Arab Emirates to support the repatriation of Italian citizens.
The Czech Republic has organised three government evacuation flights from Oman, Jordan and Egypt, bringing home 175 people, with more operations planned. Airline Smartwings is also operating return flights from Oman and Dubai, according to the CTK news agency and a government official.
Slovakia said it had evacuated 127 people, mostly Slovak citizens, along with four Czechs and one Kazakh national, on two flights from Jordan that landed on Tuesday, and was preparing additional missions.
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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
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