US State Department says demand for evacuation flights is going down

The State Department said the vast majority of the 47,000 Americans who have left the region did so commercially without government help, although by the end of Thursday it will have completed roughly 50 free charter evacuation flights for Americans.

The department said that about 32,000 Americans in the region had reached out for either security information or travel assistance and that all of them had been contacted by phone, text or email. However, it said that most offered seats on the charter flights have declined them, preferring to arrange their own travel or to remain in the Middle East.

The department said it would adjust its charter flight planning depending on the demand for seats. — AP