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in brief
- Since Wednesday, 1,324 Australians have returned home on eight flights from the Middle East — some with empty seats.
- Meanwhile, some are crossing borders on taxis to seek flights from countries less affected by flight disruptions.
An Australian government official expressed dissatisfaction over recent repatriation flights from the Middle East, which have been returning with numerous vacant seats. In a bid to escape the ongoing conflict, some travelers are resorting to costly taxi rides.
The closure of airspace by several Gulf nations, due to the intensifying conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran, has left thousands of passengers in limbo. This has led airlines to either suspend their operations or reroute flights through one of the globe’s busiest air travel routes.
On Saturday morning, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Matt Thistlethwaite, announced that 500 Australians had successfully returned overnight from the Middle East. However, over 100,000 remain unable to leave the region.
Thistlethwaite urged Australians to head to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and seize the opportunity to board any available commercial flights.
“Riyadh offers a significantly better chance for those aiming to return home,” he remarked.
“They’re taking the situation very seriously.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) will provide accommodation support for people when they travel to Riyadh, he says.
So far, 1,324 Australians have returned home on eight flights from the Middle East since Wednesday, while three more flights are expected to depart on Saturday.
Cross-border taxi trips on the rise
Stranded Australians are exploring different ways to leave the region, and some are choosing to take taxis across borders as flight cancellations continue across the Middle East.
SBS Arabic spoke to Dubai-based cab driver, Omran Khan, who said the number of travellers seeking cross-border trips had increased.
He says travellers are considering crossing into neighbouring Oman, where flights may still be available.
“A small car costs 3,000 dirhams ($ 1,164) from Dubai to Oman airport. A bigger car is 4,000 dirhams ($1,553) and bigger than that would be 5,000 dirhams ($1,941),” he said.
Khan said he was taking Australians to Oman, where Australians didn’t need a visa to be granted entry.
However, he wasn’t taking Australians to Saudi Arabia as “we’re not allowed”, he explained, and was instead taking some travellers to its border with the United Arab Emirates.
‘No end game’ in sight
The US has not provided a timeline for when it sees the conflict ending, with United States President Donald Trump previously saying it could take over a month.
Former foreign minister Bob Carr described the war, instigated by the US and Israel, as “wholly unnecessary” as Iran was “not close” to creating nuclear weapons, a claim disputed by the US and Israel.
“The relatively meagre Iranian response confirms that they did not have the capacity to do what Trump said,” he told ABC News Channel on Saturday morning.
“Their response has been weak.”
Carr described the US as inconsistent and said that the world doesn’t know what the US’s goal is for the conflict.
“America is like a blind giant dancing. And there’s no consistency, no sense of strategy. And in this case, no end game,” he said.
DFAT has opened its Crisis Portal for Australians in Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon, in addition to Iran, Israel, Qatar and the UAE.
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