Two companies that specialize in evacuation flights are outlining the current situation in the Middle East and how to plan in advance.
Amid reports of scammers using social media to target people seeking evacuation from the UAE and Qatar, two established players, Air Charter Service and Wheels Up, are highlighting their emergency evacuation services.
U.K.-based Air Charter Service, which has over 40 offices worldwide, says it has now arranged over 70 evacuation charter flights departing from the Middle East since the start of the U.S./Israel–Iran war on Feb. 28, 2026.
More departures are due in the coming days.
Chairman Chris Leach said, “Our leadership team had been in Dubai the week prior, until Friday evening, and no sooner had we landed back in the UK, than we had to initiate our emergency response plan.”
He added, “This involved pulling all the information together on the available airports, airspace, and what we were able to do.”
Leach said, “One of our main initial priorities was to evacuate the ACS staff from around the world who were still in the region on both business and also on holiday.”
He continued, “Within 24 hours, we had got everyone over the border and into Oman, from where they flew out of Muscat and caught connecting flights home to the UK, California, China, and Australia.”
Leach recalled:
‘At first, most of our charter flights were for people who just wanted to get out of the immediate vicinity as quickly as possible by private jet. With Omani and Saudi airspace remaining open since the hostilities began, we identified Muscat and Riyadh as the best airports for evacuations early in the crisis. Oman was more popular initially, due to the visa requirements of Saudi Arabia and the extra distance to the border crossing. We stationed one of our Dubai team members at Muscat airport in order to oversee our charters and make sure everything ran as smoothly as possible. In the first few days, we arranged more than 20 private jets from Muscat – the most popular destination being Istanbul, a big international hub, from where people could easily get connections home.’
Charter aircraft have ranged from private jets to a 180-seat Airbus A320 that flew from Muscat to Athens.
Leach said there is now also demand from evacuees living in Dubai who want to return.
Delta Air Lines-backed Wheels Up, meanwhile, highlighted its Emergency Planning Department, or EPD.
The company posted on its LinkedIn profile, “Our air evacuation specialists provide contingency plans built to your organization’s exact specifications, whether that means integrating into your existing protocols or building a stand-alone plan that can be activated immediately.”
The services work with corporations on a subscription basis, with plans tailored to specific locations and scenarios.
As part of the service, Wheels Up conducts tabletop drills with clients to plan for evacuation scenarios.
Wheels Up says it benefits from a global network of agents, pilots, and government contacts at airports worldwide.
The company says its service has “a track record of successful evacuations across some of the world’s most challenging environments, from remote oil fields to conflict zones.”
Reports from various media say there have been numerous fake accounts being posted on social media targeting travelers seeking to evacuate the region.
Emirates even took to social media to warn customers about scammers impersonating airline representatives.
Private aviation and emergencies provide a situation ripe for scammers.
People will make decisions without doing research.
That includes setting up fake websites.
Before booking, consider researching who owns the company and its executives.
You can also search online using the company’s name and the names of its executives, and combine those names with “lawsuits.”
READ: Caveat Emptor: Avoiding private jet scams, bankruptcies, and shutdowns
Two weeks into the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, private jet flight activity has begun to stabilize, according to the latest data from Wing X.
In week 9, private jet activity in the region fell 29% year over year.
However, over the past week, flights have begun to stabilize.
According to WingX analysts, the region saw approximately 1,137 total flights.
This represents a year-over-year drop of just 4%.
Week 10 posted a 7% week-to-week increase for regional departures.
From the beginning of the conflict, the region has recorded more than 1,500 total private jet flights.
Of these flights, over 26% traveled to Turkey.
Greece, Oman, and France also saw an uptick in flights from the Middle Eastern region.
According to WingX, the number of parked aircraft in the region has also been declining steadily.
The region saw a peak of 164 parked aircraft on March 3.
However, by March 11, this number had dropped to just 82 private jets.
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