The RAF planes are flying in and out of the Wadi Saeedna airstrip, picking up British passport holders and flying them to Larnaca airport for processing by UK officials. This evacuation is taking place during a 72-hour ceasefire, which provides a small window of relative safety for the evacuation effort to exploit. Three rescue flights have been planned in total, with 39 people reportedly flown out on the first plane.
The Foreign Office has yet to confirm how many people made it onto the second plane, which arrived in Larnaca in the early hours of Wednesday. A total of 260 people were expected to be evacuated, however, the government is facing a challenge with more British nationals not taking the evacuation flights. There is one known case of an NHS doctor who is visiting an elderly relative in Sudan, who does not have a UK visa. In addition, the government is prioritizing families with children or elderly relatives, and individuals with medical conditions for the evacuation efforts.
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