Ottawa arranges charter, commercial flights to assist Canadians evacuating Middle East

Canada is arranging charter flights and reserving hundreds of additional seats on commercial planes to assist about 2,000 Canadians in the Middle East who have asked the federal government for help leaving the area.

Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday (March 4) evening, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said she expects charter flights carrying Canadians to depart from the UAE within the next 72 hours.

Another 200 seats on commercial flights have been reserved to help Canadians in Lebanon leave the country over the next three days, reports the Globe and Mail.

Earlier Wednesday morning, a flight departed Beirut with 75 seats booked by the federal government for Canadians, most of which were used.

Anand said any remaining seats were offered to Britain and Australia as part of a reciprocal arrangement to help each country evacuate its citizens from the conflict-affected region.

In Qatar, where the airspace is closed, Canadians are being transported by bus to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, with plans for additional ground transport in the coming days.

The foreign affairs minister said that out of more than 9,000 Canadians registered in Qatar, 237 had requested government help to leave.

Anand added that 106,000 Canadians have registered with Global Affairs across the Middle East so far, with 2,035 seeking assistance to depart.

She said Global Affairs is arranging ground transportation in addition to flights but warned that travelling by road in the region could be more dangerous than staying indoors.

Wednesday’s announcement of additional support contrasted with a message earlier this week from Global Affairs warning Canadians in the region not to “rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for evacuations or assisted departures.”

In the UAE, where airspace is partly open, more than 1,100 Canadians have asked the government for help leaving.

The foreign affairs minister said Wednesday afternoon that she had instructed officials to finalize contracts to charter flights from the UAE.

“Flights will be available on a cost-recovery basis to Canadians, and the number of flights will be tailored to meet demand,” she said.

In Qatar, airspace remains closed and there are currently no flight options in or out.

Qatar Airways is arranging bus transportation for 200 Canadians who have tickets to reach an airport in Saudi Arabia, where they can depart by plane.

Anand said Global Affairs is also exploring additional ground transport options out of Qatar, though she warned that this “carries risk.”

In Israel, where the airspace is also closed, the government has been bussing Canadian citizens to Egypt so they can arrange onward travel, reports say.

Global Affairs said it plans to deploy more members of its rapid-response team—specialists trained to respond to international crises—to the Middle East in the coming days.

Canada’s efforts to help citizens leave the region have been slower than those of several other Western countries.

Several European nations have already organized airlifts to evacuate their citizens.