Britain is to lay on a flight from Oman as part of its evacuation efforts for UK citizens caught up in Iranian attacks on the region.
A small number of British holidaymakers in the Gulf have started returning to the UK on the limited flights available.
The first flight back from the UAE since the war started arrived overnight.
Emirates plans to operate two flights to Heathrow and one each to Gatwick and Manchester on Tuesday, but most flights from the region remain cancelled. The airline’s A380 jets, which can carry up to 615 passengers, will be used. Etihad Airways has scheduled one UK flight on Tuesday, from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow.
It is understood that about 130,000 people who live in the UK – 110,000 of them in the UAE, mostly holidaymakers – have registered their presence in the region with the Foreign Office, after an alert to do so was issued at the weekend.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper gave an update on Tuesday to Parliament in which she said a charter plane would be used “in the coming days” to help bring home those whose flights had been cancelled.
Ms Cooper told MPs it is “a very fast-moving situation”, with “unprecedented numbers of British nationals in the region”.
She added: “As of this morning, 130,000 British nationals have now signed up to the Register Your Presence Programme, which is vital to the Foreign Office’s ability to know where people are and to provide updates and advice.
“Members will know that in many of these countries, the airspace is still closed, but I am in close contact with my counterparts across the region, speaking again yesterday with the UAE on the excellent support that they are providing and some of the departures that they are now securing as this becomes viable.
“We are also working with airlines on increasing capacity out of Muscat for British nationals, with priority for vulnerable nationals, and a government charter flight will fly from Muscat in the coming days, prioritising vulnerable nationals, but British nationals in Oman must wait to be contacted by the Foreign Office regarding these options, and we will continue to work 24/7 on supporting British nationals in the region.”
Evacuation plans – which would be the largest in the UK’s history because of the number of countries involved – are being prepared.
US air strikes on Iran and retaliatory Iranian strikes in the Gulf have caused widespread flight disruption as several countries closed their airspaces. Emirates usually operates 146 weekly flights to the UK, the equivalent of about 21 per day, mostly using Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners with 336 passenger seats.
Qatar Airways – which usually serves Heathrow and Gatwick from Qatar – said on Tuesday morning that operations remain suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.
British Airways cancelled scheduled flights to Heathrow from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha and Dubai on Tuesday. Passengers with bookings on certain routes through March 15 are being allowed to amend the date to fly on or before March 29.
A potential evacuation could be one of the most complex in recent history. The UK has used the registration scheme before to provide urgent updates to people affected by international crises, but it has never needed to manage so many people across so many countries simultaneously.
The US closed its embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, after urging its citizens to “depart now” from more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries on Monday.
The announcement came as the US, Israel and Iran continued exchanging strikes for a fourth consecutive day, with Tehran attacking American assets and bases in the region.
About half a million passengers per day use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, key hubs connecting Europe with Asia and Australia.
UK-based aviation consultant John Strickland said it could take weeks to clear the backlog of passengers.
He said: “It’s a bit uncertain [when that will happen] because of course it will depend on how long the airspace restrictions remain in place.”
Ireland’s government is developing a list of its most vulnerable citizens who need assistance leaving the Gulf.
Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said this includes elderly people, pregnant women, and those with medical conditions. She said airlines are prioritising those who were cut off in transit without accommodation, residency, or hotel bookings.
“We are developing a list of those who are perhaps most vulnerable, elderly, those who might have medical conditions,” Ms McEntee said on Tuesday.
“There are people out there who are pregnant, and who are advanced in their pregnancy, so we want to make sure that if we have a chartered flight, that we have a very clear list of who will be on those flights, making sure that those are most vulnerable, those who aren’t residents, who don’t have accommodation, are prioritised in that regard.”
The UK government has said it would not join US air strikes in Iran, but it has allowed the US to use its airbases to help protect Gulf allies and British citizens there who have come under attack from Tehran.
Ms Cooper said this was the right thing to do as “ballistic missiles were pointed at hotels in Dubai”.
Ms Cooper told the BBC on Monday the UK had received requests from Gulf countries for assistance. “This is about collective self-defence in the face of Iran’s reckless attacks on countries with so many British citizens and countries not involved in targeting Iran.”
