First chartered evacuation flight from the Middle East set to land in the UK

A chartered plane takes off from Muscat Airport in Oman later this evening

The UK Foreign Office announced the flight, saying those most in need were prioritised for seats.

However, more than 130,000 British nationals have registered with the Foreign Office with likely waits of days if not weeks before all are able to be repatriated if the situation doesn’t improve.

Several countries’ airspace remain closed or partially limited.

UK officials are in talks with several airlines and are also exploring other options to get Britons back to the UK.

The Iran conflict has upended intercontinental travel due to major long haul hubs Dubai and Doha severely impacted.

The UK says it is the worst disruption to air travel since the pandemic.

“We continue to work with airlines to find more routes for people to return home”, the Foreign Office said.

It reasserted advice against all but essential travel to the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.