Over 1,300 Australians have managed to return home since Wednesday as the government cobbles together evacuation flights from the Middle East, yet the picture for the roughly 100,000 still stranded remains chaotic and increasingly costly.
Since Wednesday, 1,324 Australians have returned home on eight flights from the Middle East, some with empty seats, according to reporting from SBS News.On Saturday, 500 Australians arrived overnight from the Middle East, with three more flights expected to depart the same day. Yet these numbers mask a far larger crisis.
The core problem is straightforward:several Gulf countries have closed their airspace because of the escalating US-Israeli-Iranian war, forcing airlines to suspend or reroute services through one of the world's busiest aviation corridors. Repatriation flights are departing with available seats, raising questions about resource allocation when demand vastly exceeds supply.
With commercial aviation largely grounded, some Australians have begun exploring alternate routes.Stranded Australians are exploring different ways to leave the region, with some choosing to take taxis across borders as flight cancellations continue across the Middle East. A Dubai-based taxi driver reported to SBS Arabic thattravellers seeking cross-border trips had increased, considering crossing into neighbouring Oman, where flights may still be available. The cost is substantial:a small car costs 3,000 dirhams ($1,164) from Dubai to Oman airport, a bigger car 4,000 dirhams ($1,553), and larger vehicles 5,000 dirhams ($1,941).
Rather than leave citizens to rely entirely on private taxi arrangements, the government is attempting to create formal pathways.The Australian government will start bus transit services from Qatar to the Saudi Arabian capital, in a bid to help Australians desperate to leave the war-torn Middle East, according to 9News.DFAT will start operating shuttle buses for stranded Australians leaving from Doha, where the airspace is currently restricted, to Riyadh, where Australians will be able to book a commercial flight out of the region.The drive spans nearly 600 kilometres and takes 6.5 hours.
Government support for overland transit reflects both pragmatism and concern about resource efficiency.DFAT will provide basic accommodation support in Riyadh to Australians, encouraging people to move towards functioning commercial aviation hubs. Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlewaite stated he was"disappointed" repatriation flights from the Middle East are returning with empty seats, as some travellers pay thousands to escape the conflict via taxi.
The broader context is sobering.The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade estimated that more than 115,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents are now stranded or transiting in affected countries, though this figure includes transit passengers.About 115,000 Australians are currently in the Middle East, including at least 24,000 in the United Arab Emirates, many of them expatriate residents or transit travellers.
This situation reveals a genuine policy tension between competing goods: the government wants to maximise repatriation efficiency and preserve expensive military assets for genuine emergencies, yet people stranded in a war zone cannot simply wait indefinitely. Commercial flights represent the fastest option if airspace reopens fully, yet that outcome remains uncertain. The shuttle bus arrangement balances pragmatism with humanity. Not every Australian facing evacuation will have thousands of dollars for private taxis, yet overland options remain cheaper and faster than waiting for flight schedules to normalise. Reasonable people can disagree on the pace and scope of government intervention here. What is clear is that neither private-taxi solutions nor ad-hoc government flights alone will resolve whatformer foreign minister Bob Carr described as a war with "no end game".