00:00The first Britons to return home since fighting began in the Middle East between Iran and Israel and the United
00:06States have arrived in the UK as the government charter flight is set to take off from Muscat Oman in
00:14the coming days as well.
00:16The first flight out of Dubai has arrived at Heathrow on the 4th of March with another from Riyadh and
00:24Abu Dhabi landing later in the week but airspace remains heavily restricted over the Gulf region and thousands of British
00:32nationals are still stranded and unable to leave.
00:38So we were actually in India for a wedding. We flew to Mumbai and then we flew south to Kerala.
00:46We were there for a week and then we were getting a connecting flight into Dubai before flying to London.
00:53That was on Saturday. We were one of the first flights that were affected.
00:55There was a bit of trouble getting back onto a flight once we were into the airport. There was a
01:02bit of admin to and fro and we had to go on a waiting list for a few different flights
01:06but eventually got on the 7.45 that left this morning. Yeah just thankful to be home. I've even got
01:12my cases which we didn't get between the connected flight. We haven't had them since Saturday and they managed to
01:19get them back on the flight as well which is incredible. So yeah just really pleased to be home actually.
01:23On the Sunday we did hear a few blasts but we were told that that was just the interceptions. Yeah
01:31that was Saturday and Sunday but then none on Tuesday even so yeah.
01:38Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said that while airspace is closed in many countries in the Middle East the government
01:45has been working to secure charter flights to return Brits from across the region.
01:50Mr. Speaker the safety and security of British nationals is our top priority and I want to update the House
02:00on support for British citizens who are in the region.
02:04As of this morning 130,000 British nationals have now signed up to the register your presence programme which is
02:12vital to the Foreign Office's ability to know where people are and to provide updates and advice.
02:19Members will know that in many of these countries the airspace is still closed but I'm in close contact with
02:27my counterparts across the region speaking again yesterday with the UAE on the excellent support that they are providing and
02:35some of the departures that they are now securing as this becomes viable.
02:39We are also working with airlines on increasing capacity out of Muscat for British nationals with priority for vulnerable nationals
02:49and a government charter flight will fly from Muscat in the coming days prioritising vulnerable nationals.
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