Ottawa reserves commercial flight seats for Canadians in ‘volatile’ Iran war – National
The Canadian government has reserved hundreds of seats for Canadians on commercial flights leaving the Gulf region as the Iran war escalates and arranged one chartered flight, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday.
If Canadians don’t take those seats, the government will offer them to Europeans and others who will, the minister added, noting that Canada has “no intention” of participating in U.S.-led military operations.
“If any seats are unused by Canadians, we will offer them to Europeans and like-minded missions for their staff or citizens,” she said, adding that since the beginning of the war in Iran last week, Canada’s mission in Beirut had secured 325 seats for Canadians wishing to depart the region.
“As of this morning, more than 108,000 Canadians in the region have registered with Global Affairs. Of these, approximately 3,500 Canadians have contacted Global Affairs to request assistance in departing. We are sending information directly to Canadians about the assistance being offered,” Anand said.
Canada has arranged a chartered flight departing from the United Arab Emirates, which has the highest number of Canadians registered in the region, Anand said.
“Our government has secured a charter flight from Dubai to Istanbul that accommodates 180 Canadians. This flight is scheduled to depart tomorrow, March 7. This charter flight is being arranged on a cost recovery basis,” she added.
In addition to chartering a flight, Ottawa has also managed to block seats on commercial airlines leaving other countries in the region.
The first of these is two Air Arabia flights, leaving from Dubai to Istanbul, set to depart over the weekend.
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“Through these arrangements, we expect to accommodate between 45 and 50 Canadians on each flight,” she said.
Canada has also arranged 51 seats on a Dubai-Toronto Emirates flight set to depart on Saturday, however, that block booking is now sold out, she said.
A Middle East Airlines flight left Lebanon, which has the second-highest number of Canadians registered in the region, on Thursday with 50 seats booked for Canadians.
Anand said Ottawa has booked 200 seats across four more flights on this Beirut-Istanbul route for Canadians.
‘Ground transport carries risk’
Some Canadians have been making their own travel arrangements and choosing ground transportation, Anand said.
“I want to reiterate that any ground transportation carries risk,” she said.
However, she added that Canada had secured some seats on buses departing Qatar for Saudi Arabia.
“We have just confirmed four buses leaving Qatar to Saudi Arabia starting on Saturday. We have 180 seats on offer. We are co-ordinating closely with Australia,” she added.
When asked if Canada was considering the use of the Canadian Armed Forces to help evacuate its citizens in the area, Anand said, “We are looking at all options, period.”
The current evacuation options are being sent to Canadians registered with Global Affairs Canada as Anand urged more Canadians to register.
“The situation in conclusion across the region remains volatile and unpredictable and that is why we have a team here at GAC working 24 hours a day to provide updates to those who have registered and we strongly, in that vein, encourage Canadians abroad to register,” Anand said.
Canadians can contact the government’s 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre at 613-996-8885 or me-mo.sos@international.gc.ca, she said.
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