New flights evacuates thousands of travellers stranded by Middle East war

More relieved passengers arrived home from the Gulf region on Wednesday as further flights resumed five days into the war triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Aviation analytics company Cirium said that of the more than 36,000 flights scheduled to fly to or from the Middle East, more than 20,000 had been cancelled since Saturday.

As airlines resumed limited flights out of hubs including Dubai and Riyadh, governments also chartered planes to bring home citizens affected by the turmoil, which stranded tens of thousands of travellers worldwide.

A traveller speaks to press as she arrive at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol after returning from the Middle East. AFP

Passengers touching down at airports in Australia, France, Germany, India, Russia, Taiwan and beyond told of sleepless nights and days-long ordeals to get out of the Middle East when war erupted.

More than 17,500 Americans have returned to the United States since the country and Israel launched war on Iran last weekend, the State Department said on Wednesday.

More than 8,500 Americans returned on Tuesday, assistant secretary of state Dylan Johnson said.

A Russian emergency services flight evacuated 117 citizens, including 54 children, from Azerbaijan after they left Iran overland across the border.

Emirates Airlines crew members arrive at Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport after a flight from Dubai. AFP

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States also organised special evacuation flights, from countries including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A first charter flight carrying French nationals stranded in the Middle East since the start of the war with Iran landed at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris early on Wednesday.

Some of the 38 passengers disembark from the Czech Air Force jet upon arrival at the Ruzyne airport in Prague from the Jordanian capital Amman. AFP

France is among the most affected Western nations, with an estimated 400,000 nationals present in around 15 countries touched by the conflict. The aircraft chartered by Air France left Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Tuesday evening and landed in France shortly before 3:00am on Wednesday.

An evacuation flight from Abu Dhabi repatriated 175 passengers to the Spanish capital Madrid.

Swiss International Airlines said on Wednesday ‌it would operate an Airbus A340 flight ​out ⁠of Oman on Thursday to help ‌stranded travellers return ‌to Switzerland amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Swiss, a unit of Lufthansa, said ‌those on board would be people with a Swiss ⁠ticket unable to fly to Zurich due to the conflict, as well as Swiss nationals who have registered their place of residence in Oman with Swiss authorities. "In particular, this ​measure is intended to offer Swiss citizens ‌an opportunity to return home," Swiss said.

Agence France-Presse