RSAF aircraft to support repatriation of Singaporeans from Saudi Arabia

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SINGAPORE – A military aircraft will be deployed to Saudi Arabia on March 10 to assist Singaporeans seeking to leave the Middle East amid the

ongoing conflict in the region

, with a second flight being planned for two days later.

In a joint statement on March 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said a Republic of Singapore Air Force A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft will support the assisted departure of Singaporeans from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The ministries said the deployment was in response to Singaporeans in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia who need help leaving the region, amid a “lack of feasible commercial flight options”.

The upcoming flights follow

two earlier repatriation flights from Oman

over the weekend.

“The deployment of the MRTTs to Saudi Arabia serve solely to support the assisted departure operations,” the ministries said.

The US and Israel struck Iran on Feb 28,

killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top leaders, sparking retaliation from Tehran in an ongoing conflict that has spread to nearby countries.

In a video posted on social media, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang said “many commercial airports and airlines are not ready to resume operations” as the situation on the ground “continues to be fluid”.

She added that such flights require careful planning and coordination, and security conditions on the ground can change very quickly.

MFA had earlier said that it was planning a repatriation flight from Saudi Arabia between March 10 and March 12, and asked Singaporeans to indicate their interest for the flight.

The ministry on March 9 said it will contact those who have registered their interest with more details about the flights.

According to a 2018 MINDEF factsheet, the MRTT has the ability to carry up to 37,000kg of cargo or up to 266 people. It replaced the KC-135R aerial tankers, and is also capable of conducting air-to-air refuelling and can be equipped with medical equipment for aero-medical evaucation missions.

Earlier on March 7 and March 8, a total of 319 Singaporeans and their dependents returned from Muscat in Oman across two flights, operated by

Singapore Airlines with Airbus A350-900 aircraft in support of MFA

.