Iran Israel conflict: More stranded Aussies flying home as planes take off from Dubai

Australia sent two military passenger planes to the Middle East earlier this week and six DFAT crisis response teams are on their way as the Government makes contingency plans to help people leave the war zone.

Two Emirates flights carrying Australians left Dubai on Thursday and an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi was scheduled to depart later in the evening, all heading to Sydney.

While the Government has been contingency planning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that “commercial flights remain the quickest way for Australians impacted by the conflict to get home”.

People are urged not to cancel their booked flights to make sure they retain their rights to have the airline rebook or refund them.

Australia is very concerned that the conflict is spreading as Iran retaliates widely for the American and Israeli strikes, with Mr Albanese and visiting Canadian leader Mark Carney calling for de-escalation.

An estimated 115,000 Australians are in the region, with 24,000 of these in the United Arab Emirates.

Under normal conditions, some 11,000 Australians pass through Middle Eastern air travel hubs daily.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said not everyone in the area would be trying to leave since many Australians lived there.

“We have that cohort, and then we have a cohort of people who were travelling off and on to other destinations, who have not been able to engage in forward travel. So I think what we would see is most of those people will be the first ones seeking to leave,” she said.

The US, UK and France have started repatriation flights for their stranded citizens and New Zealand is preparing to follow suit.

Mr Albanese said the Government wanted to see Australians get home safely.

“We know there are many Australians who are waiting for an opportunity to get home. The Australian Government, the UAE and airlines in the Gulf states are working hard to secure more flights to get Australians home as soon as possible,” he said.

“The government is deploying six crisis response teams to the region and we have already deployed military assets as part of our contingency planning earlier this week.”

He thanked those “who are going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians caught up in this conflict”.

A C-17A Globemaster and a KC-30A plane are now positioned in the area to help with potential repatriations, which may involve short hops to nearby places such as Saudi Arabia where commercial flights are still operating.

The Opposition called on the Government to make its plans clear to stranded Australians.

“For many Australians stranded in the Gulf, this is their hour of need, and what they’ve had from the government is amateur hour in response,” shadow foreign affairs minister Ted O’Brien said.

“As somebody who, myself, has lived many years offshore, I know what it’s like when times get tough. You need your government – in fact, you pine for your government. You pine for your country, and when times are really tough, you just want to get home.”

Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family in Israel, Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates can register to receive the latest travel updates on the DFAT crisis portal.

People in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas or 1300 555 135 in Australia.