UK's Oman repatriation flight pushed back after technical delays

Thu, 05th Mar 2026 07:50

LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday its first repatriation flight from Oman had ‌been rescheduled due to operational issues, including delays in getting ⁠passengers on board.

The government had chartered a ⁠flight from Muscat to London - due to leave on Wednesday evening - for British nationals and their spouses or partners and children, with the most vulnerable people ‌having priority.

But the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday that the flight was not able to depart due to technical issues.

Speaking to Sky News, Alex Norris, a minister in the interior ministry, said there ‌were also delays in getting passengers on board as part of the operational challenges.

The flight ‌was now expected to depart later on Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of European citizens have been stranded in the Gulf states since Israel and the U.S. struck Iran on Saturday and Iran ‌then attacked its neighbours.

Britain said some 300,000 of its citizens were in Gulf countries, either on holiday, in transit or ⁠permanently ⁠based there.

British Airways, which is currently unable ‌to fly from Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv, said it would run flights from Muscat on Thursday, Friday ‌and Saturday, and that they were fully booked. (Reporting by Sam Tabahriti in London and Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Kate Mayberry and Kate Holton)