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Hungarian government launches evacuation flights to bring citizens home from Middle East turmoil
The Hungarian government is stepping up evacuation efforts to bring home citizens stranded across the Middle East as the region’s security situation continues to deteriorate. According to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, nearly 6,000 Hungarians have now registered for consular protection in recent days.
The largest group is in the United Arab Emirates, where more than 3,000 nationals — most of them in Dubai — have requested assistance. The Hungarian government says the rapidly changing situation, including ongoing strikes linked to Iran, has led to the closure or severe restriction of airspace across several countries in the region. Many scheduled flights have been cancelled, and some airlines have suspended or significantly reduced operations.
Stay up-to-date on Iran conflict: latest updates, background and Hungary-related developments.
Hungarian government organising special flights from several countries
To address the situation, Hungary is organising a series of special evacuation flights over the coming days. One of the first flights is scheduled to depart from Amman in Jordan, bringing 88 people back to Budapest on Thursday evening. Most passengers are Hungarian citizens who crossed into Jordan by land after being stranded in Israel due to a complete airspace shutdown. On Friday, another evacuation flight will depart from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, transporting Hungarians who managed to leave Israel via the Egyptian border.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian government has also signed an agreement with the airline flydubai to charter aircraft from Dubai. The first flights will prioritise families with small children, people who have been stranded for an extended period, and those requiring medical treatment. Although a flydubai aircraft can carry up to 174 passengers, authorities initially approved only 135 seats due to safety considerations and fuel limitations.
Flights to and from Oman are operating largely as normal subject to available aircraft and crews. Moreover, Muscat is increasingly being used as an airport for people to leave Dubai with both scheduled and evacuation charter aircraft departing from Muscat. There’s no apparent reason why Hungarians stuck in Dubai cannot be flown out of Muscat which is a few hours travelling overland by bus.