Czech officials update plan for Middle East repatriation flights

A Czech Army plane will now be dispatched to pick up Czech nationals stranded in Jordan on Tuesday rather than on Monday as the country’s airspace will be closed on Monday evening, the Czech minister of foreign affairs, Petr Macinka, told reporters. A second military plane that had been due to travel to Egypt for the same purpose will instead be sent to Oman, Mr. Macinka said in a briefing late on Monday afternoon.

According to his ministry’s voluntary registration system, known as Drozd, there are around 6,600 Czechs in the Middle East. Roughly 650 people are seeking repatriation in view of the security situation in the region since conflict began there at the weekend.

The airline Smartwings is also being used to evacuate Czechs from Oman. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said that it had already dispatched five planes there.