Repatriation mission brings 163 Portuguese citizens and 23 foreigners. Divided into a TAP A330 with 147 passengers and a military flight, followed by 39 people
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense announced this Thursday that a repatriation operation is underway for 186 people, almost all Portuguese, with their arrival scheduled for Friday.
According to a joint statement from the two ministries, the operation involves a C130 aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force and an A330 aircraft chartered from TAP Air Portugal.
The charter flight carries 147 passengers, of which 139 are Portuguese and eight foreigners (from Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America and Peru), with their arrival time yet to be confirmed.
39 passengers are following the mission involving the military flight, of which 24 are Portuguese and 15 foreigners (France, Greece, Brazil and Israel).
This flight is expected to arrive at Figo Maduro Airport this Friday at 5am and the Secretary of State for Communities will be present to receive the repatriated citizens.
The “missions and security plan were requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Ministry of National Defense”, says the statement.
This Thursday, Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism to organize the repatriation of Portuguese citizens in the Middle East, a European Commission spokesperson told Lusa news agency.
According to European sources told Lusa, Portugal asked for a repatriation flight to be organized, offering to give seats on that flight to other Member States.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military attack against Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader since 1989, during the offensive.
The Iranian Leadership Council currently assumes leadership of the country.
Iran launched retaliatory attacks against targets in Israel, US bases and other infrastructure in countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman and Iraq.
In addition to Türkiye, incidents with Iranian projectiles were also recorded in Cyprus.
Since the beginning of the conflict, more than a thousand deaths have been recorded, most of them Iranians.
