According to Petr Macinka, the total number of evacuees reached approximately 1,400. However, the operation runs into complications. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a group of 180 people remain stranded right on the grounds of the embassy, and another 140 people are waiting for help in Qatar.
On Sunday night, a repatriation flight from Dubai landed in Prague, bringing 189 people from the United Arab Emirates to the Czech Republic. In total, approximately 1,400 people returned to the Czech Republic on repatriation flights, confirmed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Petr Macinka, TASR reports according to the idnes.cz website and ČT24 television.
- On Sunday night, 189 people from Dubai landed in Prague.
- Around 1,400 people have so far returned to the Czech Republic on repatriation flights.
- 180 people are stuck in Riyadh and 140 Czechs remain in Qatar.
- Smartwings flights from the Middle East are delayed due to closed airports.
- About 3,750 Czechs are registered in the DROZD system, most of them do not want to leave.
Delayed flights
The head of Czech diplomacy in the Partie program on CNN Prima NEWS said that the group of 180 people stuck in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Riyadh and the group of 140 Czechs in Qatar remain a problem.
Regular flights from Dubai and the repatriation flight from Riyadh have delays of several hours, according to Vladimíra Dufková, spokeswoman for the airline company Smartwings.
“Smartwings continues to provide flights from the conflict-ridden Middle East even today,” said Dufková. According to her, the situation is complicated by the closure of airports in the region, as well as mandatory rest breaks for crews. For these reasons, among other things, the repatriation flight from Riyadh was delayed, the spokeswoman added.
Czechs abroad
On Sunday, a regular Smartwings flight will also depart from Prague to Dubai, where, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are the most Czech tourists.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 3,750 Czechs are currently registered in the DROZD system (Voluntary registration of citizens of the Czech Republic when traveling abroad), which is approximately 550 less than on Saturday. However, most of them did not show interest in returning to the Czech Republic, Macinka said.
According to information from Prague’s Václav Havel Airport, 4,833 passengers have arrived in Prague since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East as of Saturday.
