Commercial aviation in parts of the Middle East has been disrupted by the recent escalation of hostilities following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, stranding foreign nationals across the region and spurring an international effort to repatriate citizens. Governments have activated a range of measures - from commercial charters to military transports and escorted ground movements - to move people out of affected areas and back to their home countries.
Austria - Austria's foreign ministry reported it assisted 117 vulnerable citizens to leave the United Arab Emirates and Israel via neighbouring countries. The ministry said it planned a first charter from Muscat on March 4 with capacity for 170 people, while warning that departures by land would be undertaken at travellers' own risk.
Bulgaria - Bulgarian authorities arranged three flights to return nationals from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman on March 4 and March 5. Those included a 326-seat GullivAir flight departing Dubai, a Bulgaria Air rotation that would call via Oman using a Boeing 737, and a 90-seat government aircraft from Abu Dhabi.
Czech Republic - Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said around 1,400 people had arrived in the Czech Republic on repatriation flights as of Sunday.
Estonia - Estonia's foreign ministry announced on March 4 that it had organised a 180-seat flight from Muscat for the following day. That flight was made available to Estonian nationals in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
European Union - The European Commission said it is coordinating repatriation flights under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as additional member states request assistance. According to a Commission statement on March 9, the EU has so far supported more than 42 flights, bringing over 4,100 Europeans safely back to a range of member states including Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden.
Finland - Finland planned a single repatriation flight with roughly 160 seats on March 8 for the approximately 3,000 Finnish citizens reported to be stranded in the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry said. Finnair also indicated on March 6 that it was preparing to operate flights from Muscat, Oman to Helsinki to repatriate customers stranded in Dubai; the first such flight was scheduled for March 10 with additional rotations planned later in the week.
France - France said several repatriation flights were planned from March 4 to bring French citizens home. The French foreign minister noted that roughly 400,000 French nationals are in the broader region. France has deployed consular teams at Israel's borders with Egypt and Jordan to facilitate land exits, enabling onward flights, and has established a similar mechanism at UAE borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, where airspace has remained open.
Germany - Germany scheduled two flights carrying about 250 people for March 5 and March 6, after an initial repatriation flight landed in Frankfurt on March 5, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.
Greece - The Greek foreign ministry reported repatriating hundreds of citizens from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jerusalem, Oman and elsewhere in the region during the previous week.
Hungary - Hungary said 87 people were repatriated on March 4 from Amman, Jordan, and that another flight carrying 88 people was planned for March 5. An additional flight was scheduled for March 6 from Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. Hungary rented a Flydubai aircraft for March 5 and March 6 to repatriate Hungarian citizens from Dubai, and it operated two flights on each of March 7 and March 8 departing Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Italy - Italy's foreign ministry said around 25,000 Italians had returned from the Middle East on commercial services facilitated by the ministry. Rome increased consular staffing in Oman and the UAE and coordinated returns across multiple countries. The ministry reported large groups moving from the UAE, while others travelled overland through Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Italians located in Oman, Israel, the Maldives and Thailand were also receiving consular assistance.
Netherlands - The Dutch government announced preparations to use military assets to repatriate citizens from countries where they could not leave on their own. The government did not provide specific details on which countries would be involved or exact timing.
Poland - The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces reported the arrival in Poland on March 6 of the first group of Polish citizens evacuated by military airlift from the Middle East.
Portugal - A charter flight operated by TAP carrying 139 Portuguese citizens and eight foreign nationals landed in Lisbon on March 6. Portugal's foreign ministry said additional repatriation flights were being planned.
Romania - Romania's foreign ministry said on March 4 that FlyDubai had scheduled two flights to Bucharest on March 4 and March 5. The ministry reported it had received more than 3,000 repatriation requests and had approximately 16,000 nationals registered in the region.
Serbia - An Air Serbia flight from Sharm el-Sheikh landed in Belgrade early on March 4, carrying 67 passengers evacuated from Israel.
Singapore - Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said it would deploy an air force A330 multi-role aircraft to support assisted departures of Singaporeans from Riyadh on March 10, with a second flight from Saudi Arabia planned for March 12.
Slovakia - Slovakia's government carried out six repatriation flights transporting 248 passengers in total, including 189 Slovaks and the remainder foreigners. The foreign ministry said eight more evacuation flights were planned from Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia by the end of the week.
Slovenia - Slovenia organised four police-escorted buses on March 3 to convey Slovenian citizens and families with children from Dubai to Muscat airport in Oman, the prime minister's office said. The government said the first Slovenian flight was organised on March 3 and two more flights were scheduled for March 4.
Spain - Spain began evacuations on March 3, with more than 175 Spaniards arriving on a flight from Abu Dhabi, according to Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. Additional flights were expected from the UAE via Istanbul. Spain said it was reinforcing embassies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain to deliver support and facilitate further repatriations.
Sweden - Sweden chartered an aircraft to repatriate 180 vulnerable Swedes identified as needing immediate assistance, with that flight operating on Saturday.
Thailand - Thailand announced plans to evacuate its nationals from Iran by land to Turkey on March 7 and March 10. It said other Thai nationals stranded in Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan were either returning or would return once airspace reopened.
United Arab Emirates - The UAE civil aviation authority said it planned to operate "special flights" across the country's airports to assist some of the tens of thousands of passengers stranded in the region, state news agency WAM reported.
United Kingdom - The British Foreign Office said chartered flights departed Oman on March 5 after technical delays on March 4, prioritising vulnerable UK nationals. The foreign office noted that some 130,000 British citizens had registered their presence in the region.
The extent and diversity of these government-led responses underline the scale of the disruption to commercial travel and the variety of logistical solutions being deployed. Measures range from chartering commercial aircraft and employing national military transport, to arranging escorted land transfers where air corridors remain closed or flights are canceled.
Financial or market-specific implications were not detailed in the repatriation notices themselves, though the situation has implications for the travel and aviation sectors as well as related logistics services in the region.
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