The first Brits stranded in the Middle East to arrive back in the UK on a government chartered flight landed at Stansted Airport in the early hours this morning, some ‘traumatised’ by the ordeal.
After long waits on buses in the desert, dangerous border crossings, and many having panic attacks during the delays on board, the British citizens who were caught up in the Middle East conflict spoke about their horrific journey home.
While many were overjoyed to be reunited with their families, passengers noted the apparent emptiness of the plane – supposed to have 400 people on board – which apparently saw only around 80 people getting off the plane.
It comes after the farce on Wednesday, which saw the first flight chartered by the UK Government grounded after the pilot had ‘exceeded his hours’ – meaning the flight did not take off until Thursday.
Brits who had been stranded in Dubai finally managed to get on board the Titan Airways plane chartered by the Government taking off from Muscat, Oman, on Thursday just before 2pm.
Travelling via Cairo, Egypt, it landed back at Stansted, Essex, at around 12.53am on Friday morning.
Some spoke of the long journey home as ‘traumatic’, recalling delays with checking in, fearful waits on buses and nervous border crossings.
Amelia Reid and her boyfriend Samuel Sharpe, from Dartford in Kent, only arrived in the UAE emirate the day before the military action began, and described having to shelter in the car park under their hotel in Dubai before catching the flight home.
Brits pictured arriving at Stansted Airport early this morning, after a ‘traumatic’ journey back from the Middle East
Amelia Reid, 27 (inset in the wheelchair) and her boyfriend Samuel Sharp (pictured in the black hoodie) had been stuck in Dubai
The young couple were greeted by relieved parents and their beloved dog Penny
After long delays and a nerve-wracking wait, the first Brits to arrive back home spoke of their experiences of being stuck in a conflict-hit Middle East
The young couple, both 27, who were greeted by relieved parents and their beloved dog Penny, said: ‘We got to Dubai on Friday morning. We were staying on the Palm.
‘It’s been pretty traumatic. It is not something you expect when you go on holiday, to have missiles flying over your head. It is what it is and we are back now.’
The flight – which was not full – was bringing back families with young kids and the vulnerable.
Amelia, who was in a wheelchair, added: ‘There were delays yesterday. There was an issue with the checking in.
‘Because it was a chartered fight they couldn’t just check everyone in easily.
‘We waited three hours to check in and then because of that delay, the pilot then ran out of working hours so couldn’t legally fly.
‘It got cancelled before we got on the plane. We were waiting on the buses. It was pretty nerve-racking.
‘We tried four different flights to get home. They got cancelled. So we decided to go over the border and get the coach to Muscat airport.
Frightened holidaymakers and British nationals scramble for flights home, with some families paying up to £100,000 for private jets to escape the war-shaken Gulf state. Pictured: Dubai airport this week
Poppy Cleary, 27, told the BBC: ‘I paid the £350 and then I never heard back’
‘There were a couple of spare seats on the plane.’
Samuel, also 27, said: ‘On Saturday, we ended up sleeping in the car park with about 100 other people in the basement of the hotel.
‘We were stuck down there all night and didn’t get told if it was safe to go up or not. We just went up for breakfast and heard another bang after that.’
Others paid hundreds for a seat on the Government chartered flight back to never hear back.
Poppy Cleary, 27, paid around £350 for her seat but claims she ‘never heard back’ and remained stranded in Oman.
A Foreign Office spokesman told the Daily Mail yesterday that the initial flight, supposed to depart on Wednesday, was grounded due to ‘technical issues’.
Brits Fazal Chaudhri, 47 and his 41-year-old wife Federica Santoro have been living in Dubai for three years, but managed to get on the chartered flight back and are heading to Reading, Berkshire.
Mr Chaudhri said: ‘On Saturday when stuff started happening in Dubai, we drove straight away to Muscat.
‘We thought we’d get out as soon as something happened. We stayed in Muscat, we registered for the flight and got on the flight and here we are.
‘For me and my wife it’s been a bit stressful with everything happening. There was a bit of room for improvement because there were a few technical issues with the flight.
‘But they were all working really hard. It was a bit of a shambles on the night that we thought we were going to get on the flight and we were trapped on buses.’
Ms Santoro added: ‘We are fine, we were lucky to get out.’
The flight on Thursday took off nearly 24hours after it was scheduled.
The UK initially couldn’t even get its initial aircraft off the ground, as the government fielded criticism over its lack of military assets in the region and refusal to help the US and Israel in strikes on Iran.
Bungling air staff left desperate families stuck at the airport in Muscat, Oman on Wednesday after keeping them waiting for hours on the tarmac only to cancel the flight due to ‘technical reasons’. It later emerged that the aircraft’s pilot had exceeded his flying hours.
The government faced anger from passengers when the plane, chartered by the Foreign Office, was grounded because the pilot ‘needed to rest’ – while other European nations had no such problems rescuing their citizens from the missile-stricken region.
Those onboard hit out at Sir Keir Starmer’s lack of urgency to evacuate stranded Britons, describing passengers becoming ‘agitated’ or having panic attacks and being abandoned by consular staff.
The Prime Minister, who is already under fire at home for not joining in striking the Iranian regime, confirmed on Thursday afternoon the flight had finally left Muscat, some 19 hours late.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer claimed on Wednesday the delay was due to ‘technical’ factors involving getting passengers on board in time for it to take off at 7pm.
But passengers told how – after paying £350 each to escape the war – they battled four-hour check-in waits on Wednesday before finally boarding the aircraft.
They said they were kept on board for 90 minutes only to then be told they must disembark and the flight had been cancelled.
One British national described some passengers becoming ‘very agitated’ and ‘banging’ on the plane’s windows, while others suffered panic attacks when it became clear the flight would not be leaving.
Many are desperate to escape the widening conflict in the Middle East between Iran and the US and Israel, which has seen countries across the gulf targeted by Iranian missile and suicide drone attacks.
‘Due to slow check-in and delays, the pilot had clocked his hours so needed to rest,’ one passenger said.
‘No consular staff were present airside. They just left us. People started getting very agitated, banging windows, panic attacks.’
Those booked onto the flight were transferred to local hotels and told the flight would leave at some point on Thursday. One passenger said the entire experience was a ‘s***show’.
Elsewhere more than 4,000 Britons returned to the UK from five countries in the region on commercial flights on Wednesday, the government said on Thursday night.
Eight flights departed from the UAE with more expected into the weekend.
Airports across the region were initially closed after Iranian attacks, but have now begun to reopen with heavily restricted air traffic.
British airways has announced four flights to run from Muscat to London, a route it does not usually operate.
Some 140,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East with the Foreign Office since the start of the conflict.
Other European countries have already begun major evacuation operations of their citizens.
Spanish nationals boarded a military repatriation flight at an unknown location in Oman on Wednesday.
Austria’s Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger also welcomed passengers for the arrival of a charter plane carrying Austrian nationals at Vienna International Airport on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Sir Keir said: ‘More than 4,000 people have now arrived back in the United Kingdom on commercial flights from the UAE, including vulnerable Brits identified by our teams.
‘A further seven flights are due to leave the UAE for the UK today, and I can report that our first charter flight from Oman took off a few minutes ago.’
