Ottawa has reserved commercial airline seats for Canadians in the ‘volatile’ Iran-National war
The Canadian government has reserved hundreds of seats for Canadians on commercial flights from the Gulf region as the war with Iran escalates and is planning to take one chartered flight, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday.
If Canadians do not take those seats, the government will give them to Europeans and others who will, the minister added, noting that Canada has “no intention” of participating in US-led military operations.
“If any seats are not used by Canadians, we will give them to Europeans and similar machines for their workers or citizens,” he said, adding that since the start of the war in Iran last week, the Canadian mission in Beirut has received 325 seats for Canadians who wish to leave 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 while traveling. We are sending information directly to Canadians about the assistance that is available,” said Anand.
Canada arranged a chartered flight from the United Arab Emirates, which has the highest number of registered Canadians in the region, Anand said.
“Our government has obtained a chartered flight from Dubai to Istanbul that accommodates 180 Canadians. This flight is scheduled to take off tomorrow, March 7. This chartered flight is being arranged on a cost-reimbursement basis,” he added.
In addition to chartering the plane, Ottawa has also been able to reserve seats on airline flights leaving other countries in the region.
The first of these are two Air Arabia flights, from Dubai to Istanbul, which will depart over the weekend.
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“With these arrangements, we expect to accommodate between 45 and 50 Canadians on each flight,” he said.
Canada has also booked 51 seats on a Dubai-Toronto Emirates flight departing Saturday, however, those block bookings are now complete, he 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 reserved for Canadians.
Anand said Ottawa has reserved 200 seats on four other flights on the Beirut-Istanbul route for Canadians.
‘Ground transportation is dangerous’
Some Canadians were making their own travel plans and opting for ground transportation, Anand said.
“I want to emphasize that any means of transportation on the ground is at risk,” he said.
However, he added that Canada has received some seats on buses from Qatar to Saudi Arabia.
“We have just confirmed four buses from Qatar to Saudi Arabia from Saturday. We have 180 seats. We are working closely with Australia,” he added.
When asked if Canada is considering using the Canadian Armed Forces to help evacuate civilians, Anand said, “We’re looking at all options, period.”
Current opt-out options are being sent to Canadians registered with Global Affairs Canada as Anand urged more Canadians to register.
“The situation in the administration throughout the region is always changing and unpredictable which is why we have a team here at GAC working 24 hours a day to provide updates to those who have registered and we, in that way, encourage Canadians abroad to register,” said Anand.
Canadians can contact the government’s 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Center at 613-996-8885 or me-mo.sos@international.gc.ca, he said.
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