SINGAPORE, March 9 — Singapore will deploy a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft to support the assisted departure of Singaporeans from Saudi Arabia amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade & Industry Gan Siow Huang said that Singapore will arrange a third repatriation flight from Riyadh tomorrow and a fourth on Thursday (March 12) to assist Singaporeans in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to return home amid limited commercial flight options in the region.
"Mounting repatriation flights requires careful planning and coordination, as security conditions on the ground can change very quickly.
"Our Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) officers both in Singapore and at our embassies overseas have been working very hard to execute this operation under very trying circumstances," she said in a video posted on the official MFA Facebook page today.
Meanwhile, in a joint statement, the MFA and the Defence Ministry said the MRTT deployment to Saudi Arabia serves solely to support assisted departure operations.
"MFA will be reaching out to Singaporeans who have registered their interest for assisted departure from Saudi Arabia with more details," they said.
The second repatriation flight from Muscat, Oman, landed safely in Singapore on Sunday, bringing home 167 Singaporeans and their dependents. The flight also included citizens from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea.
