The first flight chartered by the UK government to bring back Britons stranded in the Middle East by the US-Israeli war against Iran did not take off from Oman on Wednesday.
Sky News reported that the plane, which was due to depart Muscat at 7pm on Wednesday, remained on the ground on Thursday morning.
Some 130,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East and the Foreign Office has said it is working with airlines to bring them back.
There was no sign of the chartered flight arriving at the Heathrow airport on Thursday morning and it did not appear on flight tracking services or arrival boards at the terminal.
Early morning arrivals included flights from South Africa and Nigeria as scheduled, but the terminal was quiet.
A few commercial flights from the Middle East are due to arrive at Heathrow’s terminal 5 this morning, with one from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, landing at just after 6am.
A British Airways flight from Muscat, due to arrive at 6.25 this morning is delayed until 8.13am, according to an arrival board.
Flights from Doha and Dubai have been cancelled.
The Independent has approached the Foreign Office and the British embassy in Oman for comment.
