Flight from Oman follows

Finally: First Austrians arrive in Vienna

Many emotional moments are expected in Schwechat on Wednesday. The first Austrians who were stranded in the crisis region have already returned.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Great relief at Vienna International Airport: the first Austrians stranded in the crisis region will return home on Wednesday. The first major repatriation flight has already taken off from the Omani capital Muscat bound for Vienna. A plane from Riyadh with compatriots on board also landed at 2 p.m.

After days of uncertainty, many families can now breathe a sigh of relief for the first time. The plane from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, carried the first Austrian citizens to be flown out of the region. It is one of the first visible steps in the repatriation operation that is now underway.

I'm glad it's over.

Lukas, Programmierer aus Niederösterreich

Lukas, who was in Ra's Tanura (Saudi Arabia) on business, is one of those who can breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm glad it's over," says the Lower Austrian, relieved, in Schwechat. A friend of his is still stuck in Abu Dhabi. There, too, you can hear a lot of "crashing" – especially at night. "But you seem to get used to it pretty quickly," Lukas knows only too well.

Many emotional moments are expected in Schwechat on Wednesday. The first Austrians who were stranded in the crisis region have already returned.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

For Marcel and Janine, it's a sigh of relief. The business developer, based in Vienna, has finally arrived back home.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Richard is also looking forward to seeing his daughter Michaela again. She was in Riyadh on business when the drones struck. But Richard wasn't worried about his daughter: "She's very independent and very careful." 

Another plane is expected to arrive this evening. It will not be flying directly from Dubai, but from Muscat. There are around 150 people on board. According to the airport website, the plane, coordinated by the Foreign Ministry, is expected to arrive in Vienna at around 9 p.m. Many passengers have been stranded in the region in recent days due to canceled scheduled flights.

Regular connections, such as from Dubai to Vienna, are currently severely restricted or canceled. The tense security situation in parts of the Middle East continues to cause airspace closures and flight cancellations.

Taken to Muscat by bus
Before taking to the skies, many of those affected had to leave by land. Organized bus transfers took Austrians from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to Muscat. After a crisis team meeting in Vienna, Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) emphasized that "continuous efforts" were being made to get Austrian citizens out. The crisis team is currently meeting twice a day.

Currently, just under 18,000 Austrian citizens are registered in the crisis region, including around 2,500 travelers. Most are in the United Arab Emirates, with others in Oman, Qatar, and Israel.

Emirates flight to Vienna planned for Thursday
A first return flight with particularly vulnerable persons was already carried out on Sunday. Further charter flights are being planned – possibly as early as Thursday. Unlike other flights from the Gulf region, Emirates scheduled flight EK127, with a planned arrival time of 12:25 p.m., is not listed as "cancelled" on the Vienna Airport website, and Emirates itself lists the flight as "planned." There were already Emirates flights to Munich and Frankfurt on Tuesday.

Now it's getting serious with the repatriation! An Emirates flight to Vienna is already planned for Thursday.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

The presidents of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have pledged their support for the departure of Austrian citizens.

Families embrace their loved ones again
Many emotional moments are expected at Vienna Airport today. Families, friends, and relatives want to embrace their loved ones again. For many of those affected, it has been a nerve-wracking time between uncertainty, constantly changing information, and not knowing when they would finally be able to go home.