More than 100 Australians and family evacuated from Tel Aviv as airspace re-opens

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The federal government says Australians looking to get out of the Middle East will be able to find more regular ways as air space in the region re-opens.

Transcript

00:00118 Australians and one New Zealander were able to board this RAAF plane out of Tel Aviv

00:10last night, leaving Israel, going to a safe place, the government says, in the broader

00:16region. That was possible because airspace reopened over Israel. The Iranian state media

00:24are also saying that they're looking to follow suit in terms of airspace opening there as

00:31well. The situation is much more difficult and complex when it comes to Iran than for

00:37Israel. Here is the Treasurer speaking about last night's operation.

00:42Well, we're working very hard as a government to get people out of harm's way, out of that

00:47dangerous part of the world and to safety. I think it's a really welcome development

00:51that 118 Australians and one New Zealand friend were able to get out on a flight that was

00:57organised by the Australian government. Here I pay tribute to the defence people and the

01:02DFAT people working under the leadership of Ministers Wong and Marles because we've got

01:09a number of contingencies in place. We've got the defence planes, we've got private charters

01:13so that when the airspace does open up, as it did over Tel Aviv, we're able to get people

01:19out so that they can then organise an onward journey. There's still thousands of Australians

01:23who have registered to get out of Iran and to get out of Israel and we will continue to

01:29work really hard and around the clock to take the opportunities when they arise to get more

01:34people out.

01:36Commercial flights are still seen as potentially the fastest way for Australians in the region

01:42and their family members to leave. And Australians who had booked previous flights out that have

01:48been cancelled are being encouraged to keep in contact with those airlines to arrange new

01:55flights out of the region. And the government, as you just heard Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer,

02:01say they're continuing to work to secure further assisted flights out of the region as the situation

02:08continues to change.

02:12Thank you very much.

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