Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 5, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
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The UK government’s first repatriation flight from Muscat, Oman, to bring British nationals home was delayed from its scheduled March 4 evening departure and has been postponed to later on March 5 due to pilot rest requirements, amid widespread regional airspace disruptions.
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)
The UK repatriation flight from Oman was delayed due to slow check-in and the pilot reaching his maximum duty hours.
The flight was open to British nationals, their spouses or partners, and children, with priority for the most vulnerable people.
The flight is rescheduled to depart from Muscat later on Thursday, after the pilot has rested.
Many Europeans are stranded due to the conflict that erupted after Israel and the U.S. struck Iran, leading to regional instability.
British Airways is unable to operate from several Middle Eastern cities but will operate a flight from Oman early on Thursday.
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