Major regional hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha currently only offer limited or no flights due to airspace closures and restrictions, as Iran continues to attack the Gulf states with missiles and drones following the start of US-Israeli military action against Iran on Saturday (28 February).
But several special repatriation flights have been organised from Muscat with Omani airspace continuing to remain open this week.
KLM operated an overnight flight between Muscat and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which arrived safely in the Netherlands on Wednesday (4 March) morning. The flight was operated in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs “under exceptional circumstances for both passengers and crew”.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa plans to operate a repatriation flight from Muscat to Frankfurt on behalf of the German government overnight between Wednesday and Thursday (4-5 March).
British Airways has also organised a flight from Muscat to London Heathrow, which is due to depart early on Thursday (5 March). BA does not normally serve Muscat as part of its schedule.
In a statement, BA said it had scheduled further flights from Muscat to Heathrow on Friday and Saturday (6-7 March). But the airline added that all these flights were now fully booked, although BA said it could add additional services "if we are able to".
“We are constantly reviewing the situation and will continue to do everything we can to support our customers and colleagues in the region and remain in regular contact with them,” added BA.
BA's services from Muscat are in addition to a separate flight being chartered by the UK government, which is due to depart Muscat on Wednesday (4 March) evening.
Airports in the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have been offering a very limited number of repatriation flights due to airspace restrictions. This allowed Emirates to operate seven flights to the UK on Wednesday, while Virgin Atlantic also flew between Dubai and London Heathrow.
Etihad Airways ran flights from Abu Dhabi to destinations including London Heathrow, Manchester, Barcelona, Munich and Milan Malpensa on Wednesday.
Qatar Airways will operate a limited number of relief flights on Thursday (5 March) from Muscat to London Heathrow, Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam, as well as a flight from Riyadh to Frankfurt. All services from Doha’s Hama International Airport remain suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. An update on the situation in Qatar is not expected until Friday (6 March) morning.
British Airways said it was currently unable to fly to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv due to the ongoing conflict.
Lufthansa Group’s airlines have suspended all flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until Sunday (8 March), while services to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi are cancelled until Friday (6 March).
In its latest update, KLM said it would not be operating any flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam up to and including Friday (6 March), while sister carrier Air France’s services to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh are suspended until Thursday (5 March).
Israeli carrier El Al will also operate nine 'recovery flights' on Thursday to return travellers to Tel Aviv. This includes flights from Athens, Milan, Paris, Munich, London Luton and Geneva. A further five flights from North America and three from Thai capital Bangkok will operate on Friday.
