Some 200 Australians and their family members impacted by the events in Lebanon are expected to arrive back in Australia this evening.
Emirates is operating a special repatriation flight which departed Larnaca in Cyprus on Monday bound for Dubai.
Passengers then boarded Emirates’ flight EK2616 which is expected to arrive in Sydney at 19:40 today (Oct 15).
Emirates has been in detailed discussions with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), other Australian government contacts and Qantas, to co-ordinate logistics and ground operations, including supporting connecting flights from Sydney to other Australian cities.
The airline says it stands ready to help impacted Australians return home through regularly scheduled services as well as the deployment of additional repatriation flights as needed.
More than 1,200 Australians have already been evacuated from Lebanon on six Australian government charter flights since the conflict in the region intensified.
It’s estimated that some 4,000 remain in Lebanon waiting to learn when they’ll be able to leave.
