Australia's first rescue flight from Afghanistan has arrived back in the United Arab Emirates carrying more than 20 people.
A RAAF C-130 Hercules has successfully evacuated people from Kabul airport, which was engulfed in chaos earlier in the week.
The flight brought 26 people to the UAE including Australian citizens, Afghan nationals who hold visas and one foreign official working with an international agency.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said efforts to extract Australians and Afghans who helped allied forces over the past two decades would ramp up in subsequent flights.
"This is not a simple process," he told reporters in Canberra.
"It's very difficult for any Australian to imagine the sense of chaos and uncertainty that is existing across this country, the breakdown in formal communications, the ability to reach people."
Regular flights are scheduled in coming days but poor weather forecast may hamper evacuation efforts.
Cabinet's national security committee is meeting daily to discuss evacuation plans from the war-torn nation which is now under Taliban control.
Mr Morrison has conceded not all Afghans who helped Australia will be rescued as part of the operation.
The first flight dropped off key foreign affairs, home affairs and defence personnel to facilitate the evacuation of Australian citizens and permanent residents, as well as Afghan nationals.
