Source: MyLondon (Story by Neil Lancefield, Press Association Transport Correspondent & Gráinne Nà Aodha, Press Association & David Lynch, Press Association & Nina Lloyd, Press Association & Chris Ballinge)
Thousands more Brits stranded in the Middle East will be able to return to the UK today (Wednesday, March 4) as airlines ramp up their flights from the region back to London airports. Emirates is operating seven flights from Dubai to the UK while Etihad has two Abu Dhabi departures.
Virgin Atlantic will operate a flight from Dubai to Heathrow. British Airways has not restarted its usual flying programme from the region, but will run an evacuation flight to Heathrow from Oman capital Muscat, which it does not usually serve.
A UK Government charter flight will repatriate Britons from Muscat at 7pm GMT, but it has been reported there will be no major evacuation of the 130,000 British nationals who have registered their presence in the Middle East. That means most stranded people are reliant on getting a seat on a commercial flight.
Flights to Ireland are also resuming on Wednesday. Emirates are to run a flight from Dubai to Dublin, Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister has said. The Irish Government said an estimated 22,000-23,000 Irish citizens are in the Middle East region.
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. Experts believe it could take weeks to clear the backlog of passengers.