Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed that two additional commercial flights are departing the United Arab Emirates for Sydney and Melbourne on 5 March, part of an ongoing effort to help Australians caught in the fast-deteriorating Iran conflict reach home. Speaking to SBS News, Senator Wong said around 115,000 Australians are still scattered across the broader Middle East, with 24,000 in the UAE alone.
The government is working with Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways to secure seats and has deployed Royal Australian Air Force assets to the region as a contingency. Mobility managers with staff on fly-in/fly-out rotations in the Gulf are being urged to register personnel on DFAT’s crisis portal and to brief travellers on dynamic exit requirements, including proof-of-accommodation checks at Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
![Canberra coordinates new wave of repatriation flights as 115,000 Australians remain in conflict zone]()
For Australians scrambling to confirm the correct transit paperwork amid shifting border controls, VisaHQ’s Australian platform (https://www.visahq.com/australia/) offers a rapid, one-stop service to verify and obtain the necessary UAE and onward visas. The portal’s real-time updates and application support can shave crucial hours off departure timelines, providing an extra layer of certainty for travellers rushing to secure limited seats.
While commercial options remain the primary extraction method, opposition MPs have called for government-chartered repatriation flights similar to those used in earlier crises in Israel (2025) and Afghanistan (2021). Home Affairs argues charter capacity would barely dent demand and that cooperation with carriers is the fastest route home.
The episode highlights the importance of real-time traveller tracking and pre-trip contingency clauses in assignment contracts—an area many corporates revisited after the 2020 pandemic but which, advocates say, still lacks consistency across industries.
The government is working with Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways to secure seats and has deployed Royal Australian Air Force assets to the region as a contingency. Mobility managers with staff on fly-in/fly-out rotations in the Gulf are being urged to register personnel on DFAT’s crisis portal and to brief travellers on dynamic exit requirements, including proof-of-accommodation checks at Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
For Australians scrambling to confirm the correct transit paperwork amid shifting border controls, VisaHQ’s Australian platform (https://www.visahq.com/australia/) offers a rapid, one-stop service to verify and obtain the necessary UAE and onward visas. The portal’s real-time updates and application support can shave crucial hours off departure timelines, providing an extra layer of certainty for travellers rushing to secure limited seats.
While commercial options remain the primary extraction method, opposition MPs have called for government-chartered repatriation flights similar to those used in earlier crises in Israel (2025) and Afghanistan (2021). Home Affairs argues charter capacity would barely dent demand and that cooperation with carriers is the fastest route home.
The episode highlights the importance of real-time traveller tracking and pre-trip contingency clauses in assignment contracts—an area many corporates revisited after the 2020 pandemic but which, advocates say, still lacks consistency across industries.
