Czechs return home on special flights from the Middle East

Two Czech military repatriation flights carrying citizens stranded in the Middle East landed at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport on Tuesday morning. A CASA C-295 aircraft arrived around 7:30 a.m. with 39 passengers from Egypt, while an Airbus A319 landed shortly after 8:25 a.m. with 96 people evacuated from Oman. The information was confirmed by Foreign Ministry spokesman Adam Čörgő. The flights are part of a wider repatriation effort launched after fighting erupted in the Middle East following strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation. Earlier on Tuesday evening another government flight brought about 40 people back to Prague from Jordan. Czech citizens are also returning on commercial flights operated by Smartwings, mainly tourists who had travelled with package tours. According to the Czech voluntary registration system DROZD, around 6,400 Czechs were in the region earlier this week.