The Canadian government has reserved tons of of seats for Canadians on industrial flights leaving the Gulf region because the Iran war escalates and arranged one chartered flight, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday.
If Canadians don’t take those seats, the federal 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 are going to offer them to Europeans and like-minded missions for his or her staff or residents,” she said, adding that for the reason that starting 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, greater than 108,000 Canadians within the region have registered with Global Affairs. Of those, roughly 3,500 Canadians have contacted Global Affairs to request assistance in departing. We’re sending information on to Canadians concerning the assistance being offered,” Anand said.
Canada has arranged a chartered flight departing from the United Arab Emirates, which has the best variety of Canadians registered within 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 price recovery basis,” she added.
Along with chartering a flight, Ottawa has also managed to dam seats on industrial airlines leaving other countries within the region.
The primary of those is 2 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, nonetheless, that block booking is now sold out, she said.
A Middle East Airlines flight left Lebanon, which has the second-highest variety of Canadians registered within the region, on Thursday with 50 seats booked for Canadians.
Anand said Ottawa has booked 200 seats across 4 more flights on this Beirut-Istanbul route for Canadians.
‘Ground transport carries risk’
Some Canadians have been making their very own travel arrangements and selecting ground transportation, Anand said.
“I need to reiterate that any ground transportation carries risk,” she said.
Nonetheless, she added that Canada had secured some seats on buses departing Qatar for Saudi Arabia.
“We’ve got just confirmed 4 buses leaving Qatar to Saudi Arabia starting on Saturday. We’ve got 180 seats on offer. We’re co-ordinating closely with Australia,” she added.
When asked if Canada was considering the usage of the Canadian Armed Forces to assist evacuate its residents in the realm, Anand said, “We’re all options, period.”
The present 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 stays volatile and unpredictable and that’s the reason now we have a team here at GAC working 24 hours a day to offer updates to those that have registered and we strongly, in that vein, encourage Canadians abroad to register,” Anand said.
Canadians can contact the federal 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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