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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Matt Watts

Government evacuation flight to bring stranded Brits home from Oman ‘in coming days’

Prices for airfares plunged by 26.5% in January compared with the previous month (Gareth Fuller/PA) - (PA Wire)

A Government charter flight is to bring Britons back to the UK from Oman amid the war in the Middle East.

The conflict between Iran and the US and its allies has caused widespread airspace closures in the Middle East, sparking major disruption to flights.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs it is "a very fast-moving situation" with "unprecedented numbers of British nationals in the region".

She said 130,000 British nationals have registered their presence in the Middle East.

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."

It comes as the first Brits able to fly out of the Middle East following the outbreak of the conflict have returned to the UK.

A flight from Abu Dhabi carrying stranded UK nationals landed at London’s Heathrow airport on Monday evening.

There were emotional scenes as families reunited.

Elsewhere Britons stranded in Dubai have told of their fears as the conflict in the Middle East escalates.

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