The Czech Republic is among the EU countries actively looking to take some of its citizens out of the region, with the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, confirming plans to run first flights in the coming hours.
Speaking to reporters after this morning’s security council meeting, Babiš confirmed plans for three evacuation flights, two from Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh and one from Amman in Jordan.
Czech airline Smartwings is also expected to run four flights to take their customers out from Moskat and Salalah in Oman, neighbouring with the United Arab Emirates, he said, which are expected to depart for Prague, Bratislava, and Warsaw, Babiš said.
As of Sunday morning, over 3,500 Czechs had registered for evacuation from the UAE, with another 900 in Oman, “hundreds” in Jordan and Israel, and about a hundred in Saudi Arabia, iDnes reported.
Neighbouring Slovakia is also working on an evacuation flight from Aqaba in Jordan, which could also pick up some Czech tourists.
But the Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico, warned on Sunday that further evacuation flights could be difficult to organise given airspace closures.
