Wrathmonk - my point is that the oil companies should pay for evacuations. These companies pay big money to former SIS and FCO personnel to give strategic security advice at head office level, and also big money to former military officers to provide tactical security planning at local level. This advice covers all aspects of contingency planning for exactly this sort of emergency. Part of that planning is to have a budget and a plan for emergency evacuation.
The more responsible oil companies started evacuating non-essential personnel some time ago, using commercial flights (we did one). Other companies have not - even on those BBC witness reports linked to by Avionker, you will see an example of a company that has chosen not to evacuate its personnel, as it considers them "essential". It is completely wrong to reward companies who have not acted responsibly by giving them free evacuation assets, when other more responsible companies have paid for them.
I am all for the RAF providing a service when it is commercially impossible - my argument is simply that it should not be FREE. These companies should be billed - and penalised with a heavy bill - for not having used commercial flights when it was still possible.
It would also be wrong for the RAF to provide free evacuation for
PR/political purposes from airfields that are still open to commercial operators, if there are still commercial operators willing and able to fly into them.
The only time the RAF should be doing
free evacuation flights is when it is commercially impossible and it is militarily imperative.