Factbox: Governments plan repatriations as Middle East flights stop

TUI AG

05/03/2026 14:41

Adds details from the European Commission. Updates details from Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom

March 5 (Reuters) - Commercial flights in parts of the Middle East have been grounded due to the escalating conflict following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, stranding foreign nationals and prompting governments to plan repatriations.

The European Commission said it is coordinating repatriation flights under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as more member states request help to evacuate citizens from the Middle East.

Six flights have already returned Europeans to Bulgaria, Italy, Austria and Slovakia, with more planned. Ten EU countries have activated the mechanism so far, additionally including Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Romania.

Below is what governments and officials have said about repatriation plans, in alphabetical order:

AUSTRIA

Austria’s foreign ministry said it had assisted 117 vulnerable citizens to leave the UAE and Israel via neighbouring states and was planning a first charter flight from Muscat on Wednesday for 170 people, while warning that land departures would be undertaken at travellers’ own risk.

BULGARIA

Three flights by GullivAir, Bulgaria Air and the State Aviation Operator are returning Bulgarian citizens from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman on Wednesday and Thursday, including a 326‑seat GullivAir flight from Dubai, a Bulgaria Air Boeing 737 rotation via Oman, and a 90‑seat government aircraft from Abu Dhabi.

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech government has so far organised three flights from Oman, Jordan and Egypt to evacuate 175 people stranded in the region, according to CTK news agency and government officials, and more are planned.

ESTONIA

Estonia's foreign ministry on Wednesday said it had organised a flight with 180 seats from Muscat for Thursday, and that this would be available to its citizens in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, at a cost of 400 euros per passenger.

FINLAND

Finland will organise a single repatriation flight for the roughly 3,000 Finnish citizens currently in the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry said. The flight will depart from Muscat, Oman, this weekend. Tickets will cost 2,300 euros per passenger, on top of any expenses for travelling to Muscat.

FRANCE

The French foreign minister said several repatriation flights for French nationals, around 400,000 of whom are in the region, were planned for Wednesday.

France said it had deployed consular teams at Israel's borders with Egypt and Jordan to facilitate land exits so people can fly onward, and has put in place a similar mechanism in the UAE at borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, where airspace has remained open.

GERMANY

Two more flights with about 250 people are scheduled for Thursday and Friday from the Gulf, after the first landed Thursday in Frankfurt, said German Foreign Minister Johoann Wadephul. He added commercial air traffic is picking up and is reviewing how Germany can offer further support.

GREECE

The Greek foreign ministry said on Thursday 162 Greeks were repatriated from the Middle east on between Tuesday and Wednesday.

HUNGARY

87 people were repatriated on Wednesday from Amman, Jordan, with another flight carrying 88 people planned for Thursday, Hungary's foreign ministry said in a statement.

A flight will also take off on Friday from Sharm es Sheik, Egypt. Hungary signed a contract with Flydubai and rented a plane for Thursday and Friday to repatriate Hungarians in Dubai. Hungary will have two flights each on Saturday and Sunday leaving from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

ITALY

Italy’s foreign ministry said about 2,500 Italians have returned from Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Muscat on commercial flights facilitated by the ministry.

It has expanded consular staffing in Oman and the UAE and is coordinating returns across multiple countries, with large groups moving from the UAE and others transiting by land through Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while additional Italians in Oman, Israel, the Maldives and Thailand are being assisted or prioritised for upcoming transport.

NETHERLANDS

The Dutch Ministery of Foreign Affairs said repatriation flights from the Middle East will resume on Friday. The flights include a flight from the Omani capital, Muscat, operated by KLM, and a TUI flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Travelers will pay a personal contribution of 600 euros per person.

POLAND

The first of two Polish military aircraft sent to Oman to repatriate Polish citizens is scheduled to land back in Poland at around midnight on Thursday, a Polish army spokesperson told state news agency PAP.

ROMANIA

Romania's foreign ministry said on Wednesday airline FlyDubai has scheduled two flights to Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday. It has received more than 3,000 repatriation requests and has around 16,000 nationals registered in the region.

SERBIA

An Air Serbia flight from Sharm el-Sheikh landed in Belgrade early on Wednesday, carrying 67 passengers, all evacuated from Israel.

SLOVAKIA

Two evacuation flights out of Jordan organised by Slovakia landed on Tuesday, carrying a total of 127 people, mostly Slovak nationals, the Slovak Foreign Ministry said. More flights are planned.

SLOVENIA

Slovenia organised four buses on Tuesday, escorted by police, to take Slovenian citizens and families with children from Dubai to Muscat airport in Oman, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

The first flight for Slovenia was organised on Tuesday evening, with two more flights scheduled for Wednesday late afternoon and evening.

SPAIN

Spain has begun evacuating its citizens from the Middle East, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Tuesday. More than 175 Spaniards arrived on Tuesday evening on a flight from Abu Dhabi and further flights were expected from the UAE via Istanbul, he said.

Spain was also reinforcing its embassies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain to provide support and facilitate further repatriations, Albares added.

THAILAND

Thailand plans to evacuate its nationals from Iran by land to Turkey on March 7 and 10, while others stranded in Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan are returning or will return once airspace reopens.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The UAE civil aviation authority will begin operating "special flights" across the country's airports to help some of the tens of thousands of passengers stranded in the region leave, state news agency WAM reported.

UNITED KINGDOM

British chartered flights plan to leave Oman on Thursday after technical delays on Wednesday, prioritising vulnerable UK nationals who want to leave the region, the British Foreign Office said, after some 130,000 citizens registered their presence in the region.

($1 = 0.8615 euros)

 (Reporting by Reuters bureaus, compiled by Mirko Miorelli and Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham, Sharon Singleton and Milla Nissi-Prussak)

 ((Dimitri.Rhodes@thomsonreuters.com))