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Emirates will operate a repatriation flight from Dubai to Sydney on Thursday to assist Australians affected by the conflict in Israel.
Flight EK2616 will leave Dubai on Thursday at 9:40am local time, arriving in Sydney at 6:05am local time the following day. Emirates will use an A380 for the flight, which comes after two RAAF flights and one private charter flight ferried Australians out of Tel Aviv on Sunday evening.
The flight is in addition to Emirates’ regularly scheduled services out of Dubai, and the airline says it is ready to put on additional humanitarian flights “as needed”.
“Australians who wish to travel on this flight should contact Emirates’ contact centre or sales offices, or their nearest Australian consulate or embassy,” the airline said in a statement.
“We have made aircraft and crew available and put them on standby to activate over the past days, pending confirmation of passenger numbers and other details from the Australian government.
“Emirates has been in detailed discussions with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), other Australian government contacts, and Qantas, to co-ordinate logistics and ground operations.
“The situation remains dynamic, and we continue to work closely with our partners on efforts to evacuate and repatriate Australians.”
Two planned charter flights out of Tel Aviv were cancelled over the weekend, including a second Qantas 787 service scheduled for Sunday.
One earlier flight on Friday was able to transfer stranded citizens to London, with an A380 flight taking passengers to Sydney still scheduled to go ahead.
Australians in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories who want to leave and don’t already have plans to depart should register via DFAT’s Crisis Portal or by calling the 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).
