The British government is said to be readying emergency plans for the biggest overseas repatriation of its citizens in history as concerns grow that airspace across the Persian Gulf could remain shuttered should Iran continue to target popular holiday destinations and transit points like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Doha.
On Saturday, the Foreign Office urged citizens who were stranded across the Middle East to register their presence in one of six countries and territories: Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Asking citizens to register their presence in a specific location is normally one of the first steps in a coordinated response by the Foreign Office to arrange emergency charter flights to get citizens home.
If commercial flights remain grounded, then any government effort to repatriate British citizens would be on a scale never seen before.
Since first putting out the call less than 24 hours ago, more than 76,000 people have also already registered their location. Most of these people were on holiday in the Middle East or transiting through airports like Dubai International Airport when flights were suddenly grounded yesterday.
There are believed to be around 250,000 Britons living in the UAE alone, although the majority of these are believed to be staying put and have not sought consular assistance.
Tens of thousands of stranded tourists and airline passengers are, however, desperately searching for ways to get out of the line of fire from Iranian kamikaze drones and missiles that have been aimed at popular destinations like Dubai and Doha.
Airlines based in the region, including the likes of Emirates and Etihad Airways, have indicated that they plan to restart their operations from Monday afternoon, although given the rapidly evolving security situation, that timeline could slip or change completely.
Meanwhile, British Airways says it wants to start flights between London and Dubai later on Monday, although this is very much dependent on whether airspace in the region reopens as planned.
Should the airspace remain shuttered, then the Foreign Office will activate plans to charter planes en masse and evacuate citizens via Riyadh in Saudi Arabia – a 10-hour drive through the desert from Dubai, or Oman to the south of the UAE.
In the past, special repatriation flights have not been free for stranded Britons. When the British government arranged evacuation flights out of Israel when other commercial services were cancelled, the Foreign Office charged passengers a flat rate of £300 ($402) per person.
Consular officials will be tasked with identifying vulnerable citizens who will be prioritized on these flights. In the past, repatriation flights were open to British nationals, including dual nationals, as well as their dependants.
