The first UK government-chartered flight evacuating British nationals stranded in the Middle East has 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 have registered with the UK government for assistance, with over 4,000 already returning via commercial flights from the UAE.
More follows
