The first UK government-chartered flight evacuating British nationals stranded in the Middle East landed at London’s Stansted airport after departing Oman nearly a day late due to technical issues.
The flight finally departed late on Thursday night local time from Oman’s capital Muscat, almost 24 hours behind schedule, and landed at Stansted at 00.53GMT on Friday.
The evacuation effort comes amid escalating regional tensions after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered retaliatory attacks, grounding or restricting flights across several Middle Eastern countries.
More than 140,000 British nationals in the Gulf registered with the UK government for assistance, with over 4,000 already returning via commercial flights from the UAE.
The government said additional charter flights will follow, although officials acknowledged the scale of the evacuation and emphasised that commercial routes remain the quickest way for most people to return home.
Passengers reported chaotic scenes and uncertainty during the evacuation process, while some travellers struggled to secure seats or were unable to travel because their family members did not meet eligibility rules.
Earlier, a British passenger waiting to board the chartered flight from Oman described being in “total shambles” after the plane failed to depart as scheduled on Wednesday night.
The passenger, who wanted to stay anonymous, told Sky News: “[The] check-in process took about four hours due to technical issues. We then got taken to the plane on a bus but had to stay on it for about one-and-a-half hours.”
“There are dozens and dozens of vulnerable people, young children and families.”
Travellers reportedly faced long delays due to technical problems during check-in, leaving many waiting for hours with little communication.
