The UK Government has chartered a second commercial flight from the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to help British nationals return home after recent attacks across the Gulf disrupted travel and left many struggling to secure seats on regular services.
The second flight left Dubai on Tuesday, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said, hours after the first UK-chartered flight from the UAE landed safely in Britain earlier in the day.
In an operational update, the government said the additional service was being laid on to supplement commercial routes that are now reopening from the UAE and to prioritise people who had been unable to access those flights, particularly vulnerable passengers.
“This additional flight is being chartered to ensure those who could not access seats on commercial flights - particularly vulnerable people - can more quickly access a safe route home,” the update said.
The move comes as the UK continues to respond to a wider regional crisis that has affected airspace and airports across the Gulf since the end of February. The latest disruption followed US and Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent missile and drone attacks across the region, including on the UAE, according to regional authorities and media reports.
The government said commercial departures from the Gulf were increasing and that 32 flights landed in the UK on Monday, the highest number of arrivals from the region in a single day since 1 March. It added that Dubai was showing a sustained downward trend in new “Register Your Presence” cases and that calls to its 24-hour consular helpline were also falling.
Officials now estimate that more than 45,000 British nationals have left the region since 1 March.
That marks a sharp rise from earlier government figures issued last week and reflects a gradual recovery in commercial air links after several days of severe disruption. At the height of the crisis, ministers said more than 100,000 Britons had registered their presence across the wider region.
The FCDO said all passengers on the charter flight must hold a valid travel document. Dependants who are not British nationals, including spouses, partners and children under 18, must also hold valid permission to enter or remain in the UK that was granted for more than six months.
The government said there was a charge for the flight.
Ministers have not described the operation as a full evacuation, and a significant part of the consular response remains focused on working with commercial airlines to restore capacity and identify more routes for people to return home.
A specialised Rapid Deployment Team is in the UAE to provide support on the ground, while the Foreign Office Crisis Response Centre is operating around the clock, according to the government.
“We will continue to monitor the security situation and will always prioritise safety,” the update said. British nationals in the UAE were urged to continue following the advice of the local authorities.
The chartered flights represent a more active phase in the UK’s consular response after days of contingency planning as airports across the Gulf faced closures, cancellations and delays.
The UAE has reported sustained attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure since the conflict widened, and regional air traffic was badly affected in the first days of the crisis. Although services are now resuming, officials appear to be maintaining charter capacity as a fallback for those still unable to leave through normal commercial routes.
The first UK-chartered flight from the UAE arrived in Britain on Tuesday morning. The government has not yet announced whether further charter flights will follow.