The South China Morning Post learned that officials had also weighed the option of repatriation flights from Oman, but the absence of direct Cathay services made the route โimpracticalโ because obtaining aviation clearance could not be guaranteed in a short period of time.
As the US-Israel war with Iran stretched into a week, more Hongkongers returned from Dubai on commercial flights on Friday evening, including the Hong Kong womenโs football team with 27 players via Bangkok and a nine-member tour group, after the regionโs busiest aviation hub resumed limited operations.
But at least hundreds more residents remained stranded in Gulf countries, with some calling for government-chartered flights as nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany tried to organise repatriations.
The Immigration Department and Security Bureau said in a reply to the SCMP that as of Friday 5pm, the department had received about 790 inquiries from Hongkongers in the Middle East. About 250 had departed, while the others were in safe locations, a department spokesman said.
The Transport and Logistics Bureau added authorities had been trying to reserve seats for residents on weekend flights, operated by Emirates, leaving Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).