Stranded Belgians Told to Self-Book Commercial Flights from Safe Transit Hubs

While evacuation buses are being organised from Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi to neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Oman, Belgium’s Foreign and Defence ministries have clarified that no chartered repatriation flights will be laid on from those hubs. Instead, once travellers reach a “safe country,” they must purchase commercial tickets back to Europe themselves, though limited seats on Belgian military aircraft may become available on a stand-by basis. The guidance follows public frustration from tourists who expected a government-sponsored airlift comparable to the COVID-19 repatriations in 2020. Officials note that the current crisis involves active combat operations and rapidly shifting flight-permission protocols, making large-scale charters impractical. Defence has earmarked three aircraft with a combined capacity of 600, but priority will go to children, the elderly and medical cases. Corporate duty-of-care advisers recommend that employers advance funds or corporate credit cards to travelling staff, as one-way fares from Riyadh or Muscat to Brussels are currently exceeding €1,400. Immigration lawyers add that overstays caused by force-majeure situations can be regularised on arrival in Belgium, provided travellers keep boarding passes and the official notice from the ministries.