Delayed UK rescue flight takes off from Oman with British nationals

Delayed UK rescue flight takes off from Oman with British nationals First government-chartered flight to evacuate citizens from Middle East takes off from Muscat one day late Middle East crisis – live updates The first flight chartered by the UK government to evacuate British nationals from the Middle East has now departed, Keir Starmer has confirmed. The prime minister announced that the delayed charter flight from Oman, which was originally scheduled to leave at 7pm on Wednesday, had taken off during a Downing Street press conference. The airlift of British nationals takes place against the backdrop of continued US and Israeli strikes on Iran , with missiles and drones also raining down on other states in the region. More than 2,000 people had arrived in the UK on Wednesday onboard eight flights from the United Arab Emirates, MPs were told on Thursday. A further eight flights on that route are expected from the UAE the same day. Starmer said: “I want to be very clear, this is a huge undertaking. It’s one of the biggest operations of its kind, many times bigger than the evacuation from Afghanistan. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we will not stop until our people are safe.” Those onboard the charter flight from Oman included a passenger named Mark, who said the planned route appeared to be from the state’s capital, Muscat, to London Stansted, with a refuelling stop in Cairo, Egypt. He told the BBC the situation on Wednesday night was a “complete shambles” involving “loads of issues with check-in” and “no communication from the craft or the crew” while being stuck on a transfer bus. British Airways said it would run a fourth daily flight from Muscat to London Heathrow – a route it does not usually serve – departing at 10.30pm on Saturday. More than 140,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East with the Foreign Office, a minister in the department, Hamish Falconer, told parliament earlier. Explore more on these topics US-Israel war on Iran...