EgyptAir and Air Cairo are operating two special flights to Asian and European destinations in order to bring home Egyptians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic.

National airline EgyptAir is flying to Bangkok and then Kuala Lumpur, with a scheduled return on Sunday to Egypt’s Marsa Alam.

Its affiliate, Air Cairo, is flying to Athens and then Belgrade, and will also return to Marsa Alam.

Hotels in the Red Sea resort are being used to host returnees for the required 14-day quarantine period.

The government is requiring returnees to sign a written acknowledgement, prior to boarding the flights, that they agree to be quarantined.

On Thursday, the airlines organised flights from Bahrain, Algeria, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Casablanca and Amsterdam, transporting a total 662 passengers back to Egypt.

Egypt began repatriating its citizens in March as part of efforts to bring back hundreds of its nationals stranded in various countries.

The country is keeping its airspace open to inbound charter and special flights to transport outbound passengers, and to cargo and domestic flights, although normal passenger flights were suspended in March.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed on Wednesday that Egypt is committed to repatriating an estimated 3,500 Egyptians stranded abroad at the earliest opportunity.



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